Wars & Conflicts Codexery

Second Congo War

A major conflict drawing nine African nations and 25 armed groups.

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By 2008 the war and its aftermath had killed 5.4 million people, mostly from disease and starvation, making it the deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II.[1][2] On 2 August 1998, the Second Congo War started in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a little more than twelve months after the First Congo War concluded.[3][1] Nine African countries and roughly 25 armed groups participated in the conflict, which ranks among the largest wars ever fought on the African continent.[4]

Last updated 2026-10-03 from the source article.

Life and work

On 2 August 1998, the Banyamulenge in Goma erupted into rebellion, and Rwanda offered them immediate assistance.[5] A loyalist army major broadcast a message urging listeners to kill Rwandan Tutsis, listing weapons including machetes, spears, and arrows.[6][7] The war officially ended on 18 July 2003 with the establishment of the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[8][1] A heavily armed rebel force called the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), made up mostly of Banyamulenge and supported by Rwanda and Uganda, rapidly formed and seized control of Bukavu and Uvira.[5]

President Kabila sought help from Hutu refugees and stirred up anti-Tutsi sentiment, which led to several public lynchings occurring in Kinshasa.[6] Kabila's diplomatic efforts succeeded in reversing the rebel advance when, after a gathering in Harare on 19 August, the governments of Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola came to the aid of his administration.[9] During September 1998, Zimbabwean troops who had been airlifted into Kinshasa stopped a rebel push that had reached the capital's edge.[10] Laurent-Désiré Kabila was fatally shot at the Palais de Marbre in Kinshasa on 16 January 2001, after which his son Joseph Kabila was inaugurated as president.[11][12]

What the cited sources add

The UKEssays.com account notes that Kabila's army began a slow movement westward in December 1996, taking control of border towns and mines.[1][13] Human Rights Watch reported that in mid-May 2002 soldiers and police officers in Kisangani mutinied against their commanding officers and the local RCD authorities.[14] Most suspected mutineers were summarily executed on the nights of May 14 and May 15 at the Tshopo bridge, their bodies thrown in the river.[14] The BBC reported that on 12 August 1998, Congolese radio broadcast a statement by a major loyal to Kabila repeating calls to "massacre them without mercy".[7]

The same radio station urged listeners to bring machetes, spears, and arrows to kill Rwandan Tutsis.[7] Roberto Garreton reported that his inquiry in Goma uncovered accusations of disappearances, torture, and killings.[1][13]

References

  1. "Study on the First And Second Congo War History Essay", UKEssays.com, November 2018. facts only, no text reused. ukessays.com
  2. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Congo war-driven crisis kills 45,000 a month-study", Reuters, 22 January 2008; Bavier, "Congo war-driven crisis kills 45,000 a month: study", Reuters, 22 January 2007; Soderlund, "Africa's Deadliest Conflict: Media Coverage of the Humanitarian Disaster in the Congo and the United Nations Response, 1997–2008", Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013-01-01; "'I Will Not Leave This Place'", Global Press Journal, 2019-10-07; "Children of the Congo who risk their lives to supply our mobile phones", The Guardian, 7 December 2012; Rayner, "Is en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Prunier, "Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe", Barnes & Noble, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bowers, Chris, "World War Three", My Direct Democracy, 24 July 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clark, "The African stakes of the Congo War", Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, p. 128 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clark, "The African stakes of the Congo War", Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, p. 128; Hate messages on East Congolese radio , BBC News, 12 August 1998 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Hate messages on East Congolese radio , BBC News, 12 August 1998. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
  8. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rebels raise Congo flag", United Press International, July 23, 2003; Soderlund, "Africa's Deadliest Conflict: Media Coverage of the Humanitarian Disaster in the Congo and the United Nations Response, 1997–2008", Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013-01-01 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Disarmament: SADC Moves into Unknown Territory", ipsnews.net InterPress Service, 19 August 1998 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scherrer, "Genocide and crisis in Central Africa: conflict roots, mass violence, and regional war", Praeger, 2002, p. 274–275 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Onishi, "Congo Leader Reportedly Dead After Being Shot by Bodyguard", The New York Times, 2001-01-17; "DRC: Introduction – The death of Laurent Desire Kabila", IRIN News, 12 February 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Baldauf, "DR Congo election: Kabila sworn in as rival challenges his legitimacy", The Christian Science Monitor, 2011-12-21; "Kabila praises Kagame talks", BBC News, 7 February 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Second Congo War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Study on the First And Second Congo War History Essay", UKEssays.com, November 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. "War Crimes in Kisangani The Response of Rwandan-backed Rebels to the May 2002 Mutiny", Human Rights Watch, 2002-08-20. facts only, no text reused. hrw.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Second Congo War (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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