By January 1980, the left-wing political organizations united to form the CRM (Coordinated Revolutionaries of the Masses) and a few months later the left-wing armed groups united to form the DRU (Unified Revolutionary Directorate) which, following its merging with the Communist party in October 1980, was renamed the FMLN. The full-fledged civil war lasted for twelve years and was extremely violent. It included the use of death squads, heavy military equipment, the recruitment of child soldiers, the deliberate terrorizing and targeting of civilians, as well as other violations of human rights.