Operation Restore Hope

25 Sep 2012

Operation Restore Hope

On at least two occasions since the AFL launched Operation Restore Hope in southeastern Liberia late last June, caches of arms have been discovered in Garleo Forest in the border district of Konobo during joint searches by AFL troops and officers from the Emergency Response Unit of the LNP. One haul in mid July included five RPG rockets, 437 rounds of ammunition for automatic weapons, 41 empty AK47 magazines, two empty pistol magazines, 331 AK 47 rounds and four RPG busters. The lot was shipped to Monrovia for forensic examination and eventual disposal.

But the campaign to secure the border with Côte d’Ivoire is by no means exclusively military. Tapping into their knowledge of the dense forest, Liberian authorities have been rallying border communities behind Operation Restore Hope.

“We’ve been consulting with our communities, the chiefs, the elders,” says Peter L. Solo, Superintendent of Grand Gedeh County, citing a visit early in August to Tempo and Ziah. “We have been assuring them that the deployment of the AFL and the police is for their own security, in light of recent incidents at the border.”
Solo said community leaders had welcomed the move by the government to reinforce security at the border, and were cooperating fully with the AFL. “They even assured us that they will assist in gathering intelligence from the local population,” he said, adding that some Paramount chiefs were actually considering setting up community watch teams to assist with the operation.

Local enthusiasm notwithstanding, the County Superintendent admitted the need for international assistance.

“Securing the border is a great challenge, and we’ll need the support and collaboration of just everyone, especially UNMIL,” he told UN FOCUS. As long as the western regions of Côte d’Ivoire remain volatile, Liberian security forces will need to be on perennial watch to protect the citizens.

While on a visit to Grand Gedeh in August, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Karin Landgren met with the Joint Task Force Command launched in June by the Liberian authorities to secure the country’s 700-km long border with Côte d’Ivoire. “There’s been a lot of attention and concerns about the border situation, and my impression is that the Liberian security forces themselves are stepping up to the task of security in this region,” the UN envoy said.