The Kamajors are a group of traditional hunters from the south and east of Sierra Leone. They were originally employed by local chiefs, but under the leadership of Hinga Norman were used by Prime Minister Ahmed Tejan Kabbah in 1996 to replace mercenaries (Executive Outcomes and Sandline International, both of whom helped train the force) as the security force of the government. The Kamajors were a part of the ECOMOG (a Nigeria led force) counteroffensive to reinstate Kabbah in 1998 after Freetown was taken by the Charles Taylor backed and Foday Sankoh led Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFCR), which was a combination of the rebel RUF and the former Sierra Leone Army (SLA). Although some point to diamond fields (blood diamonds) as the real motivating factor of the Kamajors, they continue to play a role in the march toward Sierra Leonean stability.