DR CONGO 1996-2003 The former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko never ceased to say, « Before me comes chaos, after comes the flood. » In 1997, after 35 years of power, the dictator was overthrown by a rebellion supported by neighboring Rwanda. But the signs of civil war were already present in the outrageous exploitation of wealth, corruption, and tribal structures.
The pillages, calls to murder, and the ensuing rebellions used the same weapons of the regime they had deposed. Seven African nations became involved in the conflict.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo had created on its soil the « first African world war. »
In 2003, to set an end to the violence between the Hemas and Lendus in the town of Bunia, the French army mandated by the United Nations Organisations intervened to disarm the combattants.
It reestablished there a fragile peace.
A peace in the middle of chaos.