Rwandan Civil War


The Rwandan Civil War was a complex conflict that raged within the Central African nation of Rwanda in the 1990s, and spilled over to affect all three of its neighbors. The major military conflict began in 1990 between exiled Rwandans of Tutsi ethnicity and the Hutu-dominated government of President Juvénal Habyarimana. Following an invasion by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 1990, fighting stalemated for two years until the signing of the Arusha Accords in 1993. The assassinations of President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994 signaled the start of the Rwandan Genocide and the RPF's invasion from Uganda. In less than three months, nearly 1 million people were killed, mostly civilians, and the RPF seized control of the country from the genocidal Hutu military rulers.