| Between 1996 and 2002, RUF rebels rampaged Sierre Leone, killing, maiming, and raping civilians. |
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| On the same day, the RUF's leader, Foday Sankoh, was captured by Sierra Leonean forces, leaving the RUF in disarray. |
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| During the following week, the RUF began to remobilise in the north of the country. |
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| After deciding that the RUF would not disarm voluntarily, the British began training the SLA for a confrontation. |
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| The SLA and some militia groups began to enter the camps but the RUF did not. |
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| In April 2000, 10 members of the RUF entered a UNAMSIL camp without the knowledge of the RUF's leadership. |
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| The military observers refused, and the RUF responded by besieging the camp and attacking other UNAMSIL bases in the area. |
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| After consulting with the British command in Freetown, the four officers left the camp and covertly passed the RUF line before trekking west. |
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| The resulting series of firefights lasted several hours, after which the RUF withdrew, having suffered 30 casualties. |
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| By March 2002, over 50,000 people had been through the DDR process and the RUF had been entirely disarmed. |
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| On 6 May, the RUF blocked the road connecting Freetown to the country's main airport, Lungi. |
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| President Kabbah opened dialogue with the RUF and invited RUF leader Foday Sankoh for peace negotiations. |
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| Within days, Freetown was overwhelmed by the presence of the RUF combatants who came to the city in thousands. |
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| The hostage crisis resulted in more fighting between the RUF and the government as UN troops launched Operation Khukri to end the siege. |
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| Taylor's aim was for the RUF to attack the bases of Nigerian dominated peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone who were opposed to his rebel movement in Liberia. |
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| Within a month they had driven RUF fighters back to enclaves along Sierra Leone's borders, and cleared the RUF from the Kono diamond producing areas of Sierra Leone. |
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| The RUF continued to advance, resulting in sporadic confrontations with UNAMSIL and government forces, until on 17 May they came into direct contact with British forces. |
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