Operation Sharp Edge

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Monrovia, securing the airfield site

The Operation Sharp Edge was one in 1990 by the US Navy carried out humanitarian rescue operation in Liberia . Its first objective was the complete evacuation of the US citizens trapped in the capital Monrovia and other foreigners as well as the Liberian citizens known as "embassy refugees" who had sought political asylum in the embassies . The units stationed off the coast were then used to observe and stabilize the situation.

course

In December 1989, the Liberian rebel group National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), which had gathered around 10,000 fighters in Ivory Coast, crossed the Liberian border under the leadership of Charles Taylor . The US government under George HW Bush initially did not respond to calls for intervention from Liberian President Samuel Doe , but was informed about the course of the fighting by secret services and their ambassador.

On March 7, the US Congress deliberated on Resolution 354 on the situation in Liberia. On May 25, informed Chief of Staff General Colin L. Powell and Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney , the NATO allies of the decisions plans, with the deployment of a 2,500-strong task force before the Liberian coast to stabilize the situation and avert a humanitarian disaster help to want. As a precautionary measure, the first combat and supply ships were set off for Liberia in February and March. This was followed by efforts by the US - Embassy to prepare for an evacuation of the remaining civilians still in the country and the embassy staff. An attempt to organize a vehicle convoy to Monrovia or safe countries abroad was unsuccessful.

In May 1990 the NPFL captured important cities in the hinterland. The advance on Monrovia followed in July. At this point, when the government forces Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) were already in retreat, a split in the rebel movement occurred. The future warlord Yormie Johnson founded the Independent National Front of Liberia (INPFL) and, together with his supporters, forced pressure against government troops. They were now completely demoralized and committed the Sinkor massacre of civilians on July 30th , with at least 200 civilians being murdered in a Lutheran mission station on the outskirts of the capital Monrovia.

This unexpected escalation was the triggering signal for the military units of the United States Marine Corps, which had already gathered about 30 nautical miles off the Liberian coast . On August 2, the operation began with the aim of securing the US embassy and the Mamba Stadium selected as the assembly point .

The combat ships USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) , USS Saipan (LHA-2) and USS Nashville (LPD-13) participated in the operation, which was coordinated with the US Embassy in Monrovia . The USS Saipan served as a collection point for the arriving civilians; after registration and medical treatment, all civilians were flown to Freetown , Sierra Leone .

The military operation had already been awaited by the Liberians. According to official figures, between August 1990 and the end of the operation in February 1991, 2609 civilians - US citizens, Liberian citizens and foreigners - were evacuated from the still contested capital and from secret assembly points without the US units intervening in the fighting between the conflicting parties flown out in the hinterland.

Almost in the protection of this American fleet, the ECOMOG, led by the armed forces of Nigeria, prevented Taylor from taking power immediately. At Nigeria's insistence, ECOMOG consciously sought to keep Taylor away from power and thereby gave up its actually neutral position in this conflict. Other African states also used the American military presence to bring their nationals to safety.

On September 9, 1990, President Samuel Doe was assassinated by INPFL fighters. A provisional government was formed in November, chaired by Amos Sawyer , a law professor at the University of Liberia.

The operation was declared over on February 15, 1991. In the meantime, with the outbreak of the Second Gulf War in Iraq - on August 2, 1990 - a hotspot of much more importance for US security policy had arisen.

Units involved

United States Marine Corps : 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) with Battalion Landing Team (BLT) and other special forces.

Pictures of the ships involved

  • USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)

  • USS Saipan (LHA 2)

  • USS Nashville (LPD-13)

Others

On the agreed start date of the operation on site - August 2nd - the raid on the emirate of Kuwait, which was prepared by the Iraqi invasion troops , happened to begin .

Web links

  • On Mamba Stadium (pdf, 10 MB) Report of a US historians' commission on the course of US operations in Liberia and West Africa (1990–2003)