Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea , the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy ( LURD ) , emerged in northern Liberia . In early 2003 , a second rebel group , the Movement for Democracy in Liberia , emerged in the south , and by June – July 2003 , Charles Taylor ' s government controlled only a third of the country . The capital Monrovia was besieged by LURD , and that group ' s shelling of the city resulted in the deaths of many civilians . Thousands of people were displaced from their homes as a result of the conflict . The Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed by the warring parties on August 18 , 2003 marking the political end of the conflict and beginning of the country ' s transition to democracy under the National Transitional Government of Liberia which was led by interim President Gyude Bryant until the Liberian general election of 2005 . Overview of the war . The First Liberian Civil War ended with the Liberian general election , 1997 in which Charles Taylor took power . The second civil war began in April 1999 , when Liberian dissidents under the banner of the Organization of Displaced Liberians invaded Liberia from Guinea . Guinea became LURD ’ s main source of military and financial support . By July 2000 , the various dissident groups had coalesced as the LURD led by Sekou Conneh . The dissidents were thought to be mostly Mandinka and Krahn fighters of the former ULIMO - J and ULIMO - K . Also important in forming LURD was an alliance , brokered by ECOMOG - SL Nigerian chief General Maxwell Khobe , between Liberian dissidents and the Sierra Leonean Kamajors hunter militia , including chiefs Sam Hinga - Norman and Eddie Massally . Against the dissidents Taylor deployed irregular ex - National Patriotic Front of Liberia fighters with his more privileged units , such as the Anti - Terrorist Unit , positioned to ensure the irregulars did fight . Simultaneous September 2000 counter - attack on Guinea from Liberia and Sierra Leone by RUF – still loyal to Taylor and Guinean dissidents – achieved initial success . By January 2001 , however , Taylor ’ s forces were pushed back inside Sierra Leone and Liberia . The insurgents were posing a major threat to the Taylor government . Liberia was now engaged in a complex three - way conflict with Sierra Leone and the Guinea Republic . By the beginning of 2002 , both of these countries were supporting LURD ) , while Taylor was supporting various opposition factions in both countries . By supporting — practically creating — the SL rebels , the Revolutionary United Front , Taylor also drew the enmity of the British and Americans . British and U . S . pressure on Taylor increased with rising financial support for Guinea and U . S . / U . K . - proposed sanctions , a weaker version of which were imposed by U . N . Security Council May 2001 . By mid - February 2002 LURD troops were just 44 kilometres from Monrovia , at Klay Junction , and Taylor was forced to declare a state of emergency . The February 2002 ICG report says that this attack was made by pursuing ‘ a strategy of infiltration of south - western Liberia through the thick bush of Southern Lofa , looping around government strongholds and disrupting supply lines . . . while LURD claims between 300 and 500 men were assigned to that mission . . . the number that actually attacked was likely closer to twenty . ’ Any image of a large force gradually pushing toward Monrovia is mistaken ; ‘ hit and run ’ raids , rather than a continuous advance , seem to have been the pattern . Through the first half of 2002 LURD mounted raids in Bomi , Bong , and Montserrado counties , hitting , in addition to Klay Junction , Gbarnga and Tubmanburg , each time temporarily seizing control from government fighters . In May , an attack on Arthington , less than 20 kilometres from the capital , apparently prompted panic in Monrovia . The state of emergency was lifted in September 2002 , after , the government claimed , the township of Bopolu had been retaken . In early 2003 , a second rebel group , the Ivoirian - backed Movement for Democracy in Liberia ( MODEL ) , emerged in the south , and by the summer of 2003 , Taylor ' s government controlled only a third of the country . Despite some setbacks , by mid - 2003 LURD controlled the northern third of the country and was threatening the capital . The capital Monrovia was besieged by LURD , and that group ' s shelling of the city resulted in the deaths of many civilians . Thousands of people were displaced from their homes as a result of the conflict . A new bout of fighting began in March 2003 after a relative lull and by early May , LURD and MODEL had gained control of nearly two thirds of the country , and were threatening Monrovia . Regional and wider pressure led to the convening of a conference in Accra by the then Chair of the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) , John Kufuor of Ghana , on June 4 , 2003 . By July 2003 Monrovia appeared to be in danger of being occupied and devastated despite ongoing peace talks . The U . S . established Joint Task Force Liberia , built around a U . S . navy amphibious group with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard , positioned off the West African coast . In July 2003 the United States sent a small number of troops to bolster security around their embassy in Monrovia , which had come under attack , during Operation Shining Express . On 29 July 2003 , LURD declared a ceasefire . ECOWAS sent Nigerian peacekeepers to Liberia . The first Nigerian battalion came from Sierra Leone , detaching from United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone , and a second came from Nigeria itself . President Taylor resigned on August 11 , 2003 , ahead of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement ( CPA ) which formed the negotiated end to the war , and was flown into exile in Nigeria . An arrest warrant for Taylor for war crimes committed by his Revolutionary United Front rebel allies in Sierra Leone was later issued by Interpol but Nigeria refused to deport him for a time unless they receive a specific request from Liberia . Vice - President Moses Blah replaced Taylor . On August 14 , rebels lifted their siege of Monrovia and 200 American soldiers landed to support a West African peace force . Thousands of people danced and sang as American troops and ECOMIL , the Nigerian - led West African forces , took over the port and bridges which had split the capital into government and rebel - held zones . An estimate 1 , 000 people had been killed in Monrovia between July 18 and August 14 . Moses Blah handed over power to the National Transitional Government of Liberia on October 14 , 2003 . However , the transitional government exercised no real authority in the country , 80 % of which was controlled by the rebel groups . United Nations peacekeeping . In November 1997 , following the completion of UNOMIL ' s mandate on 30 September , the United Nations established the United Nations Peace - building Support Office in Liberia ( UNOL ) , headed by a Representative of the Secretary - General . That first United Nations post - conflict peace - building support office was tasked primarily with assisting the Government in consolidating peace following the July 1997 multiparty elections . On September 11 , 2003 , UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended the deployment of the peacekeeping mission , the United Nations Mission in Liberia , to maintain the peace agreement . The UN Security Council approved the mission on September 19 in Resolution 1509 . Nigeria sent in peacekeepers as part of the interim ECOMIL Economic Community of West African States force . UNMIL was made up of over 15 , 000 personnel , including both military and civilian troops . The bulk of the personnel were armed military troops , but there were also civilian policemen , as well as political advisers and humanitarian aid workers . On October 1 , the first peacekeepers changed their berets and became a UN force , with many more troops earmarked . During three days of riots in Monrovia in October 2004 , nearly 400 people were wounded and 15 killed . The UN slowly built up its forces in the country , with 5 , 500 projected to be in place by November 2003 , and worked to disarm the various factions . However , instability in neighbouring countries , an incomplete disarmament process , and general discontent threatened Liberia ' s fragile peace . Women of Liberia . A group of Liberian women headed by Leymah Gbowee formed an organization called " Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace " and forced a meeting with President Charles Taylor , extracting a promise from him to attend peace talks in Ghana . A delegation of women organized nonviolence protests and continued to apply pressure on the warring factions during the peace process . They staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace , bringing about an agreement during the stalled peace talks . Working together , over 3 , 000 Christian and Muslim women mobilized their efforts , and as a result , the women were able to achieve peace in Liberia after a 14 - year civil war and helped bring to power the country ' s first female president . The story is told in the 2008 documentary film " Pray the Devil Back to Hell " . Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first modern elected female head of state in Africa .