SUMMARY

The conflict between the AFDL (Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo, Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo) and ALiR (Peuple en Armes pour la Liberation du Rwanda, Armed People for the Liberation of Rwanda), was related to the Hutu-Tutsi violence in Rwanda and DR. Congo (Zaire) in the 1990s. But also to the internal armed conflict over government in Zaire where the groups ended up on opposing sides.

Ethnic tensions had been high in the Kivu’s, with a mixture of Tutsis, Hutus, Hundes, and other ethnic groups. This has led to violence resulting in thousands of victims over the years, and with the arrival of at least 700 000 Rwandan Hutus who fled Rwanda after the genocide in 1994 tensions only grew. The fighting between the Hutu ALiR, consisting out of former soldiers of the Rwandan army and ex-Interahamwe, and the mainly Tutsi AFDL, which tried to topple Mobutu’s regime with the backing of the Rwandan Tutsi-government can be traced back to these ethnic tensions.

Attacks and counter-attacks occurred, often with the goal of gaining control over a certain territory. Weapons used were guns and machetes. Most of the violence happened in the Nord Kivu region, bordering Rwanda.

The non-state conflict between AFDL and ALiR was first included in UCDP data in 1997. In March of that year clashes between the two rebel groups led to more than 25 battle-related deaths.