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Operation Octopus – The Siege of Monrovia

15/10/1992

In October 1992, rebel forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) launched Operation Octopus — a coordinated assault on Monrovia aimed at toppling the Interim Government of National Unity.

For months, the capital became a battlefield. Mortar fire, shelling, and close-quarter combat killed thousands of civilians and forced tens of thousands to flee. Entire neighborhoods were leveled; hospitals and churches turned into makeshift shelters.

International observers described the siege as one of the most devastating episodes of the Liberian Civil War. Despite ECOMOG’s intervention, Monrovia remained under siege well into 1993, leaving deep scars on survivors and reshaping the humanitarian landscape of the conflict.

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