War In Sierra Leone

In 1991 civil war broke out in Sierra Leone. The government, led by Joseph Momoh, was being attacked by Revolutionary United Front, a rebel group led by Foday Sankoh, from the opposing political party. Between 1991 and and 1995 they had taken over most villages in the countryside and had almost reached Freetown. They would attack villages, killing most people or mutilating their limbs. They would sometime take young boys and force them to fight as child soldiers after brainwashing them.
Sierra Leone's civil war happened for a number of reasons. The country was one of the poorest in the world, but it had a rich natural resource of diamonds. One of the RUFs motives were to control Sierra Leone's international diamond trade. The lack of money and corrupt government also contributed to the war. It is ironic that it's natural resource which should have contributed towards making Sierra Leone a wealthy country was the reason for a war that almost destroyed it.