Word: congo
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not. The seeds of the humanitarian disaster now consuming it lie in the same Hutu-Tutsi hatred that engulfed Rwanda. The war in Congo began in 1994 when the Hutu militias--known as the Interahamwe--that carried out the Rwandan genocide were defeated by a Tutsi army and fled across the border, where they were pursued by their enemies. In that sense, the war in Congo took up where the one in Rwanda left...
...immeasurably more complicated. The fighting is now in its 15th year. According to the International Rescue Committee, it has claimed the lives of 5.4 million people, mostly through the disease and malnutrition that have accompanied it. In 1998, the war sucked six countries into a smash-and-grab for Congo's minerals and timber. And it has spawned a plethora of new rebel groups, collectively known as the Mai Mai, founded on a mix of genuine tribal grievances and criminal and murderous intent. Everyone--the Mai Mai, the Congolese army, Hutu and Tutsi, Congolese and Rwandan--fights everyone else...
...Congo Cooperation Amid Chaos Nearly 1,500 Rwandan troops have joined the Congolese army to hunt down Hutu militia leaders suspected of orchestrating the 1994 genocide against the nation's Tutsi tribes. The alliance further undermines the authority of Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, whose forces have split since fighting between Nkunda's militia and Congolese soldiers broke out in August. More than 250,000 villagers have been displaced by the fighting; Human Rights Watch reports that 650 people were killed in December alone. But some analysts say the region's violence has less to do with tribal conflict...
...Will Rwanda succeed? It's certainly a risky plan. Armed interventions in Congo have a history not only of failure but also of sullying those who perpetrate them. In 1998 the war sucked at least six neighboring African countries into what quickly became a smash and grab for Congo's timber and minerals. The U.N. has also had to deal with a series of scandals concerning sex abuse and gun running by its soldiers. The Rwandan mission may be aimed at bringing peace. But they are not coming in peace, and in Congo that has always led to more...
...pictures of the humanitarian disaster in Congo...