South African President Nelson Mandela leads peace talks between Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, left, and rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila, right, aboard the SAS Outeniqua in Pointe Noire harbour, Congo, May 4, 1997.

In 1994, in Rwanda, a small nation that borders the DRC to the east, the governing-majority Hutus carried out a genocide of the minority Tutsi people rather than share power with them. When the Tutsis rose up and took over the government, massive numbers of Hutus fled into neighboring states, especially the DRC, rather than face reprisals. The Hutu leaders used the refugee camps as bases to strike against the Rwandan government, which contributed to an overall destabilization of the Congo.

In 1997 Rwanda and Uganda supported Laurent-Désiré Kabila in overthrowing Mobutu, who supported the Hutus. This initiated the First Congo War. Kabila declared himself president and renamed Zaire the Democratic Republic of Congo. When Kabila attempted to limit Uganda and Rwanda’s influence in the Congo, however, those countries withdrew their support from him and backed Congolese rebels in an attempt to overthrow him. Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia entered the fray on the side of Kabila, and in 1998, the Second Congo War began. It lasted five years and resulted in the death of four million people. The conflict is sometimes referred to as Africa’s World War.

Credit: AP/Walter Dhladhla