# Army Offensive Pushes RUF Back (c. 1993)

URL: https://allhistories.com/sierra-leone/timeline/1993-army-offensive-pushes-ruf-back
Location: Koidu, Kono District
Themes: battle

By late 1992 the RUF still held large parts of the east and south, including the diamond fields of Kono District. The NPRC expanded the army further, recruiting thousands of young men and boys, many of them street youths, and sought help from Nigerian troops based in Sierra Leone for ECOMOG operations in Liberia. In early 1993 government forces, supported by Nigerian units and fighters of the Liberian ULIMO, launched a major offensive. They recaptured Koidu and the Kono diamond districts and, as ULIMO advances in western Liberia cut the RUF's supply routes from Charles Taylor's territory, pushed the rebels back to small enclaves along the border in Kailahun and Pujehun. By the end of 1993 many observers believed the war was nearly over. In late December 1993 Strasser declared a unilateral ceasefire and offered an amnesty to rebels who surrendered. The RUF did not surrender. It reorganised into small, mobile units based in forest camps such as Zogoda in the Kambui and Kangari hills, and in 1994 began a new campaign of raids across the country. The government's apparent victory proved short-lived, partly because many of its own soldiers had begun to collaborate with the rebels. At this point in the timeline (1993), the Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council was Valentine Strasser (1 May 1992 – 16 January 1996).

## Why it matters
The 1993 offensive was the government's best chance to end the war early, and its failure led to the far wider conflict of 1994–95.

Ruler at the Time: [Valentine Strasser](https://allhistories.com/sierra-leone/rulers/valentine-strasser)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Sierra Leone Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Civil_War)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Sierra Leone Civil War](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Sierra+Leone+Civil+War)
- [Wikipedia — Koidu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koidu)
- [Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission — Report](https://www.sierraleonetrc.org/)