Congo Conflict
The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC - formerly called Zaire under President Mobutu Sese Seko) is the widest interstate war in modern African history. The
DRC has become an environment in which numerous foreign players have become involved, some within the immediate sub-region,
and some from much further afield. That only serves to complicate the situation and to make peaceful resolution of the conflict
that much more complex. The war, centered mainly in eastern Congo, has involved nine African nations and directly affected
the lives of 50 million Congolese.
The Congolese people
are made up of around 200 separate ethnic groups. These ethnic groups generally are concentrated regionally and speak distinct
languages. There is no majority ethnic group - some of the largest ethnic groups are the Luba, Kongo and Anamongo.
By 1996, the war and genocide in neighboring Rwanda had spilled over to the DRC (then Zaire). Rwandan Hutu militia forces (Interahamwe) who fled Rwanda following the ascension
of a Tutsi-led government were using Hutu refugee camps in eastern DRC as bases for incursions against Rwanda.
In October 1996, Rwandan troops (RPA) entered the DRC with an armed coalition led by Laurent-Desire Kabila known
as the Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo-Zaire (AFDL). With the goal of forcibly ousting Mobutu,
the AFDL, supported by Rwanda and Uganda, began a military campaign toward Kinshasa. Following failed peace talks between Mobutu and Kabila in May 1997, Mobutu left
the country, and Kabila marched into Kinshasa on May 17, 1997. Kabila declared himself president, consolidated power around
himself and the AFDL, and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). RPA units continued to operate with
the DRC’s military, which was renamed the Forces Armees Congolaises (FAC).
