Foday Saybana Sankoh was the founder and leader of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during the Sierra Leone Civil War involving the Mende ethnic group Civil Defence Forces that lasted for eleven years and 6 days.
The Civil Defense Forces (CDF) was a paramilitary organization that fought in the Sierra Leone Civil War (19912002). 
 Much of the CDF was made up of the Kamajors group, which is part of the larger Mende ethnic group. 
The Sierra Leone Civil War (19912002) began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Charles Taylors National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. 
 The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead. 
Foday Saybana Sankoh (17 October 1937  29 July 2003) was the founder and leader of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the 11-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. 
