Event First Congo War

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Was a civil war in Zaire (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) that culminated in a foreign invasion that replaced Zairean president Mobutu Sese Seko with the rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

Chronology

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  • May 1997: Zaire collapsed in the 1990s, amid the destabilization of the eastern parts of the country in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and growing ethnic violence. In 1996, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the head of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) militia, led a popular rebellion against Mobutu. With rebel forces successfully making gains beyond the east, Mobutu fled the country, leaving Kabila's forces in charge as the country restored its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo the following year.

1. AFDL Conquest of Congo

Was the military invasion by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), an alliance of African states and military groups that ended the regime of Mobutu Sese Soko in Zaire (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo).

  • March 1997: AFDL conquest of Kisangani.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Bumba.
  • May 1997: AFDL conquest of Kinshasa.
  • November 1996: AFDL conquest of Goma.
  • October 1996: AFDL conquest of Bukavu.
  • January 1997: AFDL conquest of Watsa.
  • February 1997: AFDL conquest of Isiro.
  • October 1996: AFDL conquest of Bukavu.
  • May 1997: AFDL conquest of Kenge.
  • November 1996: AFDL conquest of Goma.
  • May 1997: AFDL conquest of Kenge.
  • May 1997: AFDL conquest of Mbandaka.
  • March 1997: AFDL conquest of Kananga.
  • October 1996: AFDL conquest of Uvira.
  • May 1997: Line of front based on available maps.
  • January 1997: AFDL conquest of Watsa.
  • March 1997: AFDL conquest of Kisangani.
  • March 1997: AFDL conquest of Kindu.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Lubumbashi.
  • November 1996: AFDL conquest of Butembo.
  • December 1996: AFDL conquest of Bunia.
  • March 1997: AFDL conquest of Kindu.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Kamina.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Kamina.
  • February 1997: AFDL conquest of Kalemie.
  • February 1997: AFDL conquest of Kalemie.
  • March 1997: AFDL conquest of Kananga.
  • February 1997: AFDL conquest of Isiro.
  • December 1996: AFDL conquest of Bunia.
  • May 1997: AFDL conquest of Kinshasa.
  • May 1997: AFDL conquest of Mbandaka.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Mbuji-Mayi.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Mbuji-Mayi.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Lubumbashi.
  • April 1997: AFDL conquest of Bumba.
  • November 1996: AFDL conquest of Butembo.

Selected Sources

  • Der Spiegel 19/1997 p. 146
  • Der Spiegel 7/1997 p. 128
  • Der Spiegel 45/1996 p. 167
  • Johnson, D. (2009): Kongo, Kriege, Korruption und die Kunst des Überlebens, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
  • Stearns, J. (2012): Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, London (UK)