The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was the former military of Sierra Leone that merged into the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it is was driven from the capital by a coalition of West African troops. It was no longer a coherent and effective organization by the elections of 2002. The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. ... The Revolutionary United Front, or RUF, was a rebel army that fought a failed ten-year insurrection in Sierra Leone starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... West Africa is the region of western Africa generally considered to include these countries: Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Côte dIvoire (Ivory Coast) Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Chad, Mauritania, and... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Description

The AFRC was formed by Major Johnny Paul Koroma of the Sierra Leonean military in 1997, who used it to carry out a coup d'etat against the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The former Sierra Leone Army ("ex-SLA") is a term used to refer to soldiers loyal to the AFRC. Several rationales have been suggested for the coup, including: anger at the government for not implementing the November 1996 peace agreement with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), perceived ethnic discrimination in the appointment of the highest ranks of government, perceived financial neglect of the armed forces, and favoritism for the "Kamajors" group. Johnny Paul Koroma (1960 - June 1, 2003) was the head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (born February 16, Sierra Leone (1996-1997, 1998 - present). ... November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Following the coup, in May 1997 the AFRC demanded that the Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force then in the country release the arrested RUF leader Foday Sankoh. Sankoh gave his blessing to the AFRC, and RUF forces who had been fighting in the countryside linked up with AFRC forces in the capital Freetown. Sankoh was named Vice-Chairman of the AFRC and several other RUF leaders were named to high positions. The AFRC and RUF thus formed a joint military junta controlling the country. May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ... The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country in West Africa and, by far, the most populated nation in Africa. ... Peacekeeping is a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace. ... Foday Sankoh Foday Sankoh (October 17, 1937 - July 29, 2003) was a leader of the Sierra Leone rebel faction Revolutionary United Front in the 10-year-long Sierra Leonean civil war, which ended in 2002. ... For other cities of the same name, see Freetown (disambiguation). ... There are a number of things that junta (hUn-tah) could refer to: It can be a military dictatorship. ...

However, in March 1998 the AFRC/RUF was forced out of Freetown by an invading West African force that put President Kabbah back in power. However, the rebels according to their respective origins, RUF and ex-SLA, under the renewed pressure, with a force of ex-SLA based in the Occra Hills, 50km from the capital. The rebel AFRC regrouped to retake the capital in January 1999, but was again forced out by the Nigerian-led force. For alternative meanings, see March (disambiguation). ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

By 1999, the authority of the AFRC and Major Koroma over the ex-SLA had become very uncertain and the AFRC is commonly seen as devolving into bands of loosely associated combatants. The West Side Boys rebel group are sometimes referred to as a AFRC splinter group. The West Side Boys abducted several soldiers of the British army that were training West African peacekeepers in July 2000, and was subsequently destroyed by British forces in a September raid that freed the hostages. While many of the combatants who were under the command of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council continued to fight, the "AFRC" designation gradually ceased to become useful and the AFRC organization is no longer considered to exist. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ...

External links

• AFRC (http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3013) at the Terrorism Knowledge Database
• IRIN special report on ex-SLA/RUF "rift" (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Newsletters/irinw_9899.html), 8 September 1999