SUMMARY

The conflict between LPC (Liberian Peace Council) and NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia) took place in the southern parts of Liberia during a period of time between February 1994 and August 1995. The situation in Liberia at the time was chaotic. The civil war that had plagued the country since 1989 was a factor that enabled various groups to advance their positions vis-à-vis rivaling groups. The groups in question were often defined along ethnic lines, as was the case in the conflict between LPC and NPFL.

Prior to the first recorded casualties there had been reports of fighting, mostly in the sense of stealing food from rival faction camps. This changed in early February 1994 when clashes between LPC and NPFL erupted near the coastal town of Buchanan. The conflict started with a relatively low intensity but more intense clashes took place during the fall. 1994 was the most intensive year in terms of casualties and the number of attacks as well as fatalities decreased in 1995 and the conflict did not continue beyond this year.

The most violent episode in 1995 took place on 13 June outside of Liberia, in Dambli village in the Ivory Coast. This event marked the first overspill of violence into the neighboring Ivory Coast since Charles Taylor launched his rebel offensive from within the Ivory Coast in December 1989. The violence was intense, and the official death toll ended at 32 fatalities. Eyewitnesses, however, claimed much higher figures.

The violence between LPC and NPFL had an ethnic dimension, since the LPC were made up of mainly Krahn, while NPFL were ethnic Gio and Mano. This ethnic divide tainted much of the domestic politics in Liberia, and as violence increased, so did the cross-ethnic suspicion and hostilities.

The conflict was active during two years, 1994 and 1995. During 1994 a few larger clashes took place, resulting in scores of casualties. The most severe clash in 1995, as mentioned above, took place during June that year. There was however no continuation of the conflict past 1995 and as peace accords were signed in 1996 LPC disabled its militant operations an instead focused on politics.

The non-state conflict between LPC and NPFL is first included in UCDP data in 1994. In September that year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.