Warmatrix

The First and Second Congo Wars were messy conflicts that were fought in Congo, though directly involved nine African countries. The Second Congo War ranged so wide that it is often called the Great African War, echoing the Great War.
In 1994 CE, the sudden deaths of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi triggered a genocide of the Tutsi minority by the Hutu majority in Rwanda, killing 800,000 people. Several thousands of Tutsis, with Ugandan support, had been fighting a guerrilla war in Rwanda from 1990 CE to 1993 CE. They reacted to the genocide by taking up arms again and succeeded into wresting power from the Hutus. Then it was the turn of the "Interahamwe", Hutu militias, to to flee to neighboring countries, most notably Zaïre, their ally. Around 40,000 Hutu warriors mixed with millions of refugees, both Hutus and Tutsis, and took over power in the refugee camps. Zaïre, weakened for decades by mismanagement from the corrupt and despotic dictator Mobutu Sésé Seko, was both unable and unwilling to stop them. Soon the Hutus started their own guerrilla war against Rwanda, slowly preparing for a counter invasion.
In 1996 CE Rwanda moved against them by backing the Banyamulenge Rebellion in the Kiva provinces in east Zaïre, the start of the First Congo War. Burundi and later Uganda and Angola also helped with weapons, money, political backing and some military assistance. The Tutsi rebels, around 2,500 men strong, were veterans of the Rwandan Civil War and other conflicts. They primarily targeted the Hutu militias, though many civilians died in the process. In the autumn they scored victory after victory against the 3,500 strong but ineffective eastern part of the Zaïran army. Soon they were joined by non-Tutsi militias headed by Laurent Désiré Kabila, who sought to rid themselves of the rule of Mobutu.
In the next year the rebel army, now 6,000 strong, started to advance to Kinshasa, the Zaïran capital in the west. On paper, the opposing Zaïran army was strong: 50,000 men equipped with heavy weapons like tanks, artillery and airplanes. However it was grossly underpaid, poorly trained, ill-disciplined and led by incompetent generals. It offered no resistance of note; the few hundred foreign mercenaries that Mobutu recruited could not make a difference either. The rebels advanced in three fronts, hampered by bad roads. Battles were short and usually light; the rebels often left escape routes for the government troops, who were all too happy to flee. When the rebels took Kisangani in March, resistance crumbled, foreign support for the anti-government forces grew and they started racing forward. Kinshasa fell two months later, Mobutu fled and Kabila took over, renaming the country to Congo.
Kabila's regime, as weak as Mobutu's, depended heavily on Rwandan backing. When he tried to establish his own independent government, he alienated his former allies and peace started to erode. For some time fighting was limited to skirmishes, but in 1998 CE a new Tutsi rebellion arose in the east, starting the Second Congo War. Kabila, in need of fighting power, allied himself with the Hutus. The rebels, backed by Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, seized important towns and mines. They even captured Kitona in the far west in an airborne assault, cutting Kinshasa's power supply.
The tide turned when Kabila managed to get Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola and later also Chad, Libya and Sudan on his side. Some only sent battalion-sized forces, though Angola provided experienced soldiers and Zimbabwe brought a fairly well mechanized army and air force. The parties involved had different aims. Some fought along ethnic lines; some wanted territory or a piece of Congo's mineral wealth; most a combination of these. Rwanda and Uganda fell out with each other; each supported its own rebel army in Congo. Soon the country was divided into four power blocks and the fighting descended into a stalemate.
In 1999 CE a peace agreement was signed and a peacekeeping force from the United Nations was installed. Nonetheless the war continued, especially in the east. By 2002 CE Rwanda was threatening to fall apart and other countries were war-weary too. A new peace agreement was made and several countries withdrew their armed forces; militias were disbanded. However the pacification was slow and incomplete. Because the underlying causes had not been resolved, Congo, especially in the east, remains volatile until today.
Both Congo Wars were savage, with little distinction between soldiers and bandits. Looting, rape and even maiming were common. The number of deaths has been estimated at nearly 5½ million, mostly civilians, many from disease and starvation. A further 3 million were forced to leave their homes. Many groups made extensive use of child soldiers; in some militias the proportion of children reached 30%. They were abducted or made orphans, forcibly recruited, drugged, brainwashed and sent to the frontlines under the leadership of ruthless adult officers. On the other end of the spectrum were mercenaries, in small but well trained and equipped units, often used by mining companies to secure mines, power plants, airports and other strategic points.