Virtually no roads exist in most areas. Hundreds of schools and health clinics have long-since shut down due to years of government neglect. Congo's immensity, coupled with its striking lack of infrastructure, makes the country virtually ungovernable and ripe for instability for the forseeable future, analysts fear. Observers have long predicted that Congo, home to hundreds of different ethnic groups, might eventually disintegrate into endless rounds of secessionist wars as one group or region after another asserts its independence. Combatants in the current war, however, have not advocated the break-up of Congo.
All sides claim that they are fighting to ensure security and eventual democracy.
Other motives remain unspoken.