1998 Monrovia clashes

Monrovia clashes
Part of the aftermath of the First Liberian Civil War
The bodies of Krahn civilians that were massacred by government forces during or after the clashes in Monrovia.
Date February–September 1998 Location Monrovia, Liberia Result Partial victory of Charles Taylor Monrovia purged of Roosevelt Johnson's followers Mass killings of Krahn, which contribute to the Second Liberian Civil War's outbreak
Belligerents
Liberian government (Taylor loyalists)	Johnson's forces (ex-ULIMO-J) Limited involvement:  Nigeria  United States
Commanders and leaders
Charles Taylor Benjamin Yeaten Chucky Taylor	Roosevelt Johnson
Units involved
Special Security Service (SSS) Executive Mansion Special Security Unit (EMSSU) Liberian National Police Special Operation Division (SOD)	Krahn fighters Nigerian ECOMOG peacekeepers U.S. embassy guards
Strength
Hundreds	Johnson's forces: Hundreds
Casualties and losses
Unknown, several killed	c. 300 killed 2 WIA
Dozens of civilians killed during the clashes, hundreds massacred afterwards

Partial victory of Charles Taylor

The Monrovia clashes in 1998 were the result of Liberian President Charles Taylor's attempts to violently eliminate one of his last domestic political opponents, Roosevelt Johnson, a former warlord of Krahn ethnicity. At the time, Johnson still lived with a small loyal militia in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. After some minor armed altercations, almost all of Johnson's followers were finally killed by Taylor's security forces during a major firefight in September 1998, though Johnson himself managed to flee into the United States embassy. After one last attempt by Taylor's paramilitaries to kill him there, causing a major diplomatic incident, Johnson was evacuated to Ghana. Although the clashes were effectively a political victory for Taylor as he had removed Johnson from Liberia, the mass killings of ethnic Krahn after the clashes contributed to the outbreak of the Second Liberian Civil War which saw the president being toppled.

After being elected in 1997, President Charles Taylor had fortified his power over Liberia, mostly by purging the security forces of opponents, killing opposition figures, and raising new paramilitary units that were loyal only to him or his most trusted officers. Nevertheless, he still faced a few remaining opponents in the country, mostly former warlords of the First Liberian Civil War who had kept part of their forces to protect themselves from Taylor. His most important domestic rival by early 1998 was Roosevelt Johnson, a Krahn leader and former commander of the ULIMO. Although Taylor had appointed him rural development minister, Johnson remained a threat because he still had hundreds of armed followers who remained in Monrovia. Protected by Nigerian ECOMOG peacekeepers, Johnson, his men and their families (mostly ethnic Krahn) lived in a fortified one-block-long apartment compound in the capital's downtown which was nicknamed "Camp Johnson Road".

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