There are too many dynamics to be so simplistic. What happened in Ivory Coast? Once the head of the snake was taken out/captured his armed support all but collapsed. (Of course the civil war would not have even reignited if Gbagbo (and his loyal military commanders) had been taken out months ago.)
Actually I seem to recall the "New Forces" surging across the ceasefire line and overrunning most of the country before Gbagbo surrendered.

Gbagbo had some holdout forces in his bunker and some neighborhoods in Abidjan, but most of the country and indeed Abidjan was out of his control, mostly because his forces had either deserted, surrendered, or gone over to the other side.