SUMMARY
LDF (Lofa Defence Force) was an armed group active in the context of the Liberian intrastate armed conflict over government during the early 1990s. In 1989, an armed uprising against President Samuel Doe erupted, as he was first challenged by NPFL, and then by the latter’s splinter faction INPLF. While the NPFL leader Charles Taylor was himself an “Americo-Liberian” – a collection term used to denote descendants of former black slaves from the Americas – many NPFL cadres were drawn from the Gio and Mano tribes. Consequently, the Liberian government engaged in brutal reprisal attacks against the Gio and Mano, which in turn led to NPLF atrocities against the Krahn – President Doe’s native ethnic group – and the Mandingo ethnic group, who were perceived as “Krahn collaborators” by the rebels because of the favors the group had received from Doe’s regime. In September 1990, President Doe was apprehended and killed by INPLF forces. However, ECOWAS’ deployment of the Nigeria-led ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group) force in August prevented any of the rebel factions from ousting the newly formed interim government and capturing the capital Monrovia. From 1991 to 1996, Liberia was characterized by failed negotiations and non-state fighting between various armed groups. For example, a primary rival of the Gio- and Mano-based NPFL was ULIMO (established in 1991), which was based around the Krahn and Mandingo ethnic groups. ULIMO itself then split along ethnic lines in 1993, creating ULIMO-J (Krahn) and ULIMO-K (Mandingo). It was in this chaotic context that LDF emerged in 1993.
LDF was set up in the northern Lofa County of Liberia, allegedly with the aim of protecting “native Liberians” from attacks by various marauding groups. The group also claimed – at least nominally – to protect civilian property and holy shrines in Lofa. Three ethnic groups, namely the Loma, Kissi, and Mandingo, constitutes the majority of Lofa’s population. The Loma and Kissi – self-identified as “native” Liberians - together constitute around 60 percent of the county’s total population, while the Mandingo – considered by many other groups as “foreigners” - represent approximately 15 percent. The perception that the Mandingo were not “real” Liberians stemmed in part from their Guinean origins; some Mandingo had migrated from Upper Guinea and settled in present-day Liberia already during the 1700s, but migration happened also in more recent times. From the mid-1900s, the Liberian government also increasingly favored the Mandingos, as it sought to utilize the latter’s extensive regional trade- and economic networks. As such, the Mandingo became intertwined with the ruling – and widely resented – Americo-Liberians in the eyes of Liberia’s other ethnic groups. This, alongside their Guinean origins, contributed to the Mandingo being labeled as “foreigners”. Even after Samuel Doe’s coup in 1980, the Mandingos retained their favored position vis-à-vis most other ethnic groups as the new regime relied on the group’s support, such as their aforementioned economic resources.
The endemic suspicion against the “foreign” Mandingos was exacerbated during the early 1990s by the severe ethnic factionalism caused by Liberia’s armed groups, and the ethnicity-based targeting of civilians. In Lofa, the attacks and pillaging by various armed groups - including the Mandingo-dominated ULIMO-K – displaced a large number of Loma and Kissi to Guinea. As such, LDF was formed following mobilization among Loma and Kissi refugees in Guinea, before the group moved into Lofa to resist in particular ULIMO-K. Some sources suggested that many LDF fighters had previously served as soldiers in ousted President Doe’s Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL); the soldiers from Lofa had however occupied a subordinate role within the army, which was dominated by the Krahn. Francois Massaquoi – himself from the Loma ethnic group - led LDF. It was believed that the LDF was deeply integrated into the civilian population in its area of operation, and that the group had around 400 fighters. By late 1994, LDF had lost control over most of its territory in Lofa to other armed factions.
Initially, the LDF was aligned with, and received support from, Charles Taylor’s NPFL. It was believed that LDF was used by NPFL to keep its rivals in the ULIMO factions from establishing a foothold in Lofa. LDF also cooperated with several other Liberian rebel organizations. For example, in December 1994, LDF, ULIMO-J, LPC, and a NPFL breakaway faction called the “Central Revolutionary Committee” (NPFL-CRC) formed a body named the “Coalition Forces”. However, it was not possible to determine whether this coalition had any real military significance.
In 1997, Massaquoi became a minister in the “government of inclusion”, led by Charles Taylor, following the signing of the Abuja Peace Accords in August 1996. Even if LDF as a unitary actor did not take part in the second phase of the Liberian conflict, many of its members joined various pro-Taylor militias to fight against LURD.
LDF has been involved in the one-sided category of UCDP organized violence.
