history
The 1994 Rwandan genocide was the spark that lit the regional fire. In the Rwandan genocide, Hutu power groups led mass killings of Tutsis (an ethnic group in central Africa that would sometimes emigrate to Zaire chasing independence) pro-peace Hutus murdered 800,000 people in approximately 100 days. Tutsi led Rwandan patriotic front and overthrew the Rwandan Hutu government . During and after the genocide 2million refugees (mostly Hutu) poured over Rwandans western border in the Congo. Army for the liberation of Rwandan terrorized and robbed the local population with impunity until October 1996 Tutsi led an uprising to force the Rwandans out of the Congo which started the First Congo War.
why/How
The weakening of Mobutus regime encouraged the emergence of a rebellion in eastern congo in 1995. This movement was led by Laurent Kabila the alliance of democratic forces for the liberation of congo(AFDL) launched a insurgency to topple Mobutu regime in 1996 recruiting tens of thousands of child soldiers from local communities in the east. Rwanda and Uganda sent thousands of soliders to support the alliance of democratic forces for the liberation of Congo. While the group was successful in overthrowing the Mobutu dictatorship, the alliance fell apart after Kabila and his Ugandan & Rwandan turned on each other, marking the beginning of the second congo war on August 2,1998. The first and foremost of these was the suppression of the génocidaires who had been launching attacks against the new Rwandan state from Zaire now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.