Editing Zaire (section)

===First Congo War and demise of Zaire===
{{Main|First Congo War}}
By 1996, tensions from the neighbouring [[Rwandan Civil War]] and genocide had spilled over to Zaire (see [[History of Rwanda#Post-civil war Rwanda|History of Rwanda]]).{{sfnp|Abbott|2014|pp=33–35}} Rwandan [[Hutu]] militia forces ([[Interahamwe]]), who had fled Rwanda following the ascension of an [[Rwandan Patriotic Front|RPF]]-led government, had been using Hutu refugee camps in eastern Zaire as bases for incursion against Rwanda. These Hutu militia forces soon allied with the [[Military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Zairian armed forces]] (FAZ) to launch a campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire, known as the [[Banyamulenge]]. In turn, these Zairian Tutsis formed a militia to defend themselves against attacks.{{sfnp|Abbott|2014|pp=33–35}} When the Zairian government began to escalate its massacres in November 1996, the Tutsi militias erupted in rebellion against Mobutu, triggering the [[First Congo War]].{{sfnp|Abbott|2014|pp=34–35}}

The Tutsi militia was soon joined by various opposition groups and supported by several countries, including Rwanda and Uganda. This coalition, led by [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]], became known as the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre ([[AFDL]]). The AFDL, now seeking the broader goal of ousting Mobutu, made significant military gains in early 1997, and by the middle of 1997 had almost completely overrun the country. The only thing that seemed to slow the AFDL forces down was the country's ramshackle infrastructure; irregularly used dirt paths and river ports were all that connected some areas to the outside world. Following failed peace talks between Mobutu and Kabila, Mobutu fled into exile in Morocco on 17 May. Kabila named himself president, consolidated power around himself and the AFDL, and marched unopposed into Kinshasa three days later. On 21 May, Kabila officially reverted the name of the country to the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}