Foday Sankoh
Sankoh was the leader of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front, which is considered one of the world’s most brutal guerrilla movement.
With the support of Charles Taylor’s military, Sankoh waged an 11-year war in his country. He started out by attacking the diamond-rich villages, taking over the mines.
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Just like Taylor’s men, Sankoh’s rebel hacked off the hands, feet, lips and ears of victims with machetes. He also recruited child soldiers into his army, often drugged and indoctrinated in rituals.
Photo: Development and Cooperation
One of the most notorious aspects of his war campaign was the ‘Operation Pay Yourself’, which saw his rebels rewarding themselves with anything and everything they found.
The civil war saw the death of more than 50,000 people and the maiming of hundreds of thousands more.
