Rwandan Civil War The Rwandan Civil War was a conflict within the Central African nation of Rwanda , between the government of President Juvénal Habyarimana and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front ( RPF ) . The conflict began on 1 October 1990 when the RPF invaded and ostensibly ended on 4 August 1993 with the signing of the Arusha Accords to create a power - sharing government . However , the assassination of Habyarimana in April 1994 proved to be the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide , the commonly quoted death toll for which is 800 , 000 . The closely interrelated causes of the war and genocide led some observers to assume that the reports of mass killings were in fact some new flaring of the war , rather than a different phase . The RPF restarted its offensive , eventually taking control of the country . The Hutu government - in - exile then proceeded to use refugee camps in neighboring countries to destabilize the new RPF government . The RPF and its proxy rebel forces prosecuted the First Congo War ( 1996 – 1997 ) , which led in turn to the Second Congo War ( 1998 – 2003 ) , all of which involved a Hutu force with the objective of regaining control of Rwanda . Thus while the civil war officially lasted until 1993 , some literature has the war ending with the RPF capture of Kigali in 1994 or with the disbanding of the refugee camps in 1996 , while some consider the presence of small rebel groups along the Rwandan border to mean that the civil war is ongoing . Background . The ethnic tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority had their roots in the Belgian colonial era , where the ruling Belgian authorities empowered the Tutsi aristocracy , and cemented the second class status of Hutus , in what had previously been a fairly fluid social system . Upon leaving Rwanda , Belgian diplomats stirred the pot by reversing their favoritism , encouraging nationalist Hutu uprisings in the name of democracy . Episodes of violent attacks and reprisals between Hutus and Tutsis flared up in the first two decades following Rwanda ' s independence , building tensions and resentment that would explode in the civil war and genocide of the 1990s . A new wave of ethnic tensions were unleashed in 1990 . One of the main causes was a slumping economy and food shortages . Throughout the year , the country was subject to bad weather and lessening coffee prices . These problems helped create a dangerous political climate . Further political tension was evident following a call by the for increased democracy in Francophone Africa . France , though not traditionally associated with Rwanda , began to show that it would put political pressure on Rwanda if it didn ' t make concessions to democracy . Many Rwandans heard the call , and began forming a democracy movement which protested during the summer . Another source of mounting tensions in 1990 , were the grumblings of the Tutsi diaspora . Those Tutsi who had been exiled over thirty years were now coming together in an organized group known as the RPF . The Hutu in Rwanda considered these Tutsi an evil aristocracy which had rightly been exiled . They pointed out that the descendants of these Tutsi no longer had any knowledge of Rwanda , and spoke English instead of French . The exiled Tutsi , however , demanded recognition of their rights as Rwandans which included the right to live there . These Tutsi began to pressure the Rwandan government , and eventually forced the Habyarimana government to make concessions . The RPF was under the command of Major - General Fred Rwigyema , who had risen to be deputy minister of defense in Uganda . However , growing xenophobia had led to his removal and new legislation prohibiting non - Ugandan nationals , including Rwandan refugees , from owning land . It was this " push " factor from Uganda , as much as the " pull " of their ancestral homes , that led the RPF to fight for citizenship in Rwanda . Habyarimana found himself forced to set up a national committee to examine the " Concept of Democracy " and to work on the formation of a " National Political Charter " which would help reconcile the Hutus and Tutsis . During this crucial point in negotiations the situation went bad . The RPF was simply unwilling to wait any longer for the Rwandan government to come through on its promises . Preparation for war . The Rwandan Patriotic Front ( RPF ) was formed in December 1987 , as the successor organisation to the Rwandan Alliance of National Unity ( RANU ) . The new organisation ' s goals included facilitating the return of all Rwandan refugees to Rwanda , using force if necessary , and to establish national unity and democracy in the country . The RPF , composed primarily of second - generation Tutsis , numbered over four thousand troops who were well - trained in the Ugandan army and had combat experience from the Ugandan Bush War . The RPF rebels were organized in a clandestine cell structure . Warfare . 1990 invasion . At 2 : 30 pm on 1 October 1990 , fifty RPF rebels deserted their posts and crossed the border from Uganda into Rwanda , killing a customs guard at the Kagitumba border post . They were followed by hundreds more rebels , dressed in the uniforms of the Ugandan national army and carrying Ugandan weaponry , including machine gun s and rocket launcher s . RPF demands included an end to ethnic segregation and the system of identity cards , as well as other political and economic reforms that portrayed the RPF as a democratic and tolerant organization seeking to depose a dangerous and corrupt regime . Both President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Habyarimana of Rwanda were in New York attending the United Nations World Summit for Children . The role of Uganda was immediately brought into question . It is likely that Museveni knew of the RPF and its planned invasion , but did not explicitly support it . Museveni had several motives for not interfering , including stability in western Uganda and the possibility of a strengthened position in future refugee negotiations with Habyarimana . Museveni denies any knowledge however , stating years later in a conference with fellow African heads of state , that the RPF had launched the invasion " without prior consultation " . Museveni also said later that " faced with [ a ] " fait accompli " situation by our Rwandan brothers , " Uganda went " to help the RPF , materially , so that they are not defeated because that would have been detrimental to the Tutsi people of Rwanda and would not have been good for Uganda ' s stability . " In the first few days of fighting , the RPF made significant progress , advancing south to the town of Gabiro . Their Rwandan Armed Forces ( FAR ) opponents were numerically superior , with 5 , 200 soldiers , and possessed armoured cars and helicopters supplied by France , but the RPF benefitted from the element of surprise . The RPF suffered a significant reversal on the third day , however , when commander Fred Rwigyema was killed . It is likely that Rwigyema was killed by his subcommander Peter Bayingana , following an argument over tactics , although the current RPF - led Government of Rwanda contend that he was killed by a stray bullet . The offensive failed after France and Zaire militarily intervened . Zaire sent several hundred troops of the elite Special Presidential Division ( DSP ) to fight alongside Rwandan government troops . In a military operation code - named Noroît , France deployed the 1st and 3rd companies of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment , consisting of 125 soldiers , who were based in the Central African Republic , to support the Rwandan government . These forces were later joined by elements of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment , 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment and 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment . France , which had signed a defense pact with Habyarimana in 1975 , insisted that its forces had been deployed strictly to protect its nationals , but the parachute companies set up positions blocking the RPF advance to the capital and Kigali International Airport . Col . René Galinié had command of the initial deployment , but was replaced by Col . Jean - Claude Thomann on 19 October . France also supplied the Rwandan government with shipments of artillery , mortars and other military equipment , along with financial aid . France claimed to be countering " aggression launched from an English - speaking country . " At first , Belgium also supported the government but cut all military aid shortly after hostilities began , citing a domestic law prohibiting their military from taking part in a civil war . France , in contrast , supported the regime and gave significant military and financial support , thus replacing Belgium as Rwanda ' s major foreign sponsor . On 7 October 1990 , the government forces launched a counter - offensive . The RPF who had only prepared for a short war began to fall back when it became clear that they did not have the heavy equipment needed to face the government forces in a conventional conflict . Major Paul Kagame , who was in the United States taking a course at the Command and General Staff College , was contacted and returned to take control of the rebel forces . To make matters worse , on 23 October , two more RPF commanders , Major Peter Bayingana , who had taken " de facto " command , and Chris Bunyenyezi , were arrested by Salim Saleh , the Ugandan president ' s brother , for the murder of Rwigyema and brought back to Uganda for interrogation and eventual execution . The RPF force was thrown into confusion and by the end of the month , had been pushed back into Akagera National Park in the northeast corner of the country . French spotter planes were used to find retreating RPF units so they could be destroyed by the FAR . On the night of 4 October , the Rwandan government staged a fake attack on Kigali with gunfire and explosions around the city . This piece of theater was intended to frighten the populace into supporting the war and encouraging the reporting of suspected RPF sympathizers among the Tutsi . Over 10 , 000 people were arrested . The reaction also included directed killing . A witness testified that , on 2 October , para - commandos under Major Aloys Ntabakuze separated civilians fleeing the fighting at Umutara into Hutu and Tutsi , and used grenades to kill the Tutsi . Eight days later , another witness testified that Ntabakuze ordered the ethnic cleansing of a village called Bahima . Ten days after the invasion , local officials in Kibilira were told to kill the local " inyenzi " and burn down their homes because of the threat of the RPF offensive . At least 348 civilians were killed in 48 hours . The RPF regroup . On his arrival , Paul Kagame began to reorganize the RPF forces , which had been reduced to less than 2 , 000 troops , and decided to develop a guerrilla warfare in the north of the country . Museveni granted permission for the RPF to retreat back into Uganda for one night , during which Kagame and the troops completed a tiring overnight march west to the Virunga mountains , a high altitude area in which the Rwandan army could not attack them . The RPF spent two months in the mountains , without engaging the government forces . Conditions were harsh and some members of the army perished due to freezing temperatures . The time in the Virungas was spent reorganising the army and rebuilding the leadership that had suffered so much during the fighting . Alexis Kanyarengwe , a Hutu and former ally of Habyarimana , was appointed RPF chairman ; however , Tutsis continued to make up the majority of the leadership . During this time , the RPF also recruited from the Tutsi diaspora . In addition to Ugandans , new members arrived from Burundi , Tanzania , Zaire , the United States , and Europe . By early 1991 , the RPF had grown to 5 , 000 ; by 1992 it had reached 12 , 000 and during the 1994 offensive it numbered 25 , 000 . In addition to recruiting personnel , the RPF carried out fund raising activity . The Tutsi diaspora worldwide contributed , as did some businessmen within Rwanda who were the victims of corruption by the Habyarimana regime . The RPF rearmed itself , both by purchasing arms on the international market and relying on clandestine supply from former colleagues in officer corps of the Ugandan army . Guerrilla war . By January 1991 , Kagame restarted the war . The first move , on 23 January 1991 , was a surprise attack on the northern town of Ruhengeri . Ruhengeri was chosen due to its proximity to the Virunga mountains and its perception as being a stronghold of the Habyarimana regime . The RPF captured the town , benefiting from the element of surprise , and held it for one day before retreating back to the forests . During the occupation they captured weapons and equipment from the Rwandan army and stormed Ruhengeri prison , freeing political prisoners . The attack succeeded in creating a climate of fear in Rwanda . Following this action the RPF withdrew and began to carry out a classic hit and run style guerrilla war . Low intensity fighting dragged on with neither side managing to inflict any major defeats on the other . The RPF started broadcasting from Uganda into Rwanda on its own radio station , called Radio Muhabura in 1991 . It was monitored by the BBC starting in 1992 , and was mostly a propaganda instrument for the RPF . It accused the Habyarimana government of genocide as early as January 1993 , even before the Arusha accords . Over the next few years there were numerous attempts at ceasefire s , though they achieved little and the fighting continued until 13 July 1992 when a cease - fire was signed in Arusha . Arusha accords and after . The war dragged on for almost 2 . 5 years until a cease - fire accord was signed on 12 July 1992 , in Arusha , Tanzania , fixing a timetable for an end to the fighting and political talks , leading to a peace accord and power sharing , and authorizing a neutral military observer group under the auspices of the Organization for African Unity . The cease - fire took effect on 31 July 1992 , and political talks began 31 September 1992 . Over the course of the following months negotiations continued , though without any serious breakthroughs and with the tension on both sides mounting . Finally , following reports of massacres of Tutsi , the RPF launched a major offensive on 8 February 1993 . This offensive forced the government forces back in disarray , allowing the RPF to quickly capture the town of Ruhengeri , and then to turn south and begin advancing on the capital . This caused panic in Paris ( a long term supporter of the Habyarimana regime ) which immediately sent several hundred French troops to the country along with large amounts of ammunition for the FAR artillery . The arrival of these French troops in Kigali seriously changed the military situation on the ground . Implicit in their support for the government and their rapid deployment was the threat that , should the RPF advance on the capital , then they may find themselves fighting French paratroopers as well as Rwandan government soldiers . On 20 February , with the RPF only north of Kigali , the rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire and over the following months pulled their forces back . By that time , over 1 . 5 million civilians , mostly Hutu , had left their homes . . An uneasy peace was once again entered into , which would last until 7 April of the following year . Over the following months the peace process developed . One of the stipulations of the agreement was that the RPF would station a number of diplomats in Kigali at the CND parliament building . These men were to be protected by between 600 - 1000 RPF soldiers . The Tutsi diaspora miscalculated the reaction of its invasion of Rwanda . Though the Tutsi objective seemed to be to pressure the Rwandan government into making concessions which would strip Tutsi of their largely ' second class ' status , the invasion was seen as an attempt to bring the Tutsi ethnic group back into power . The effect was to increase ethnic tensions to a level higher than they had ever been . Hutu rallied around the President . Habyarimana himself reacted by instituting genocidal programs , which would be directed against all Tutsi and against any Hutu seen as in league with Tutsi interests . Habyarimana justified these acts by proclaiming it was the intent of the Tutsi to restore a kind of Tutsi feudal system and to thus enslave the Hutu race . Military operations during the 1994 genocide . On 6 April 1994 , President Habyarimana returned from negotiations in Dar es Salaam when his presidential jet was shot down , killing all inside . Interahamwe and the presidential guard began to kill opposition politicians and prominent Tutsi . Over the following days , it became clear that the target of these killings was the entire Tutsi population along with certain moderate Hutu . The Rwandan Genocide had begun and would last three months , killing hundreds of thousands of people , about 937 , 000 according to the RPF . The nature of the genocide was not immediately apparent to foreign observers , and was initially explained as a violent phase of the civil war . Mark Doyle , the correspondent for the " BBC News " in Kigali , tried to explain the complex situation in late April 1994 thusly , Look , you have to understand that there are two wars going on here . There ’ s a shooting war and a genocide war . The two are connected , but also distinct . In the shooting war , there are two conventional armies at each other , and in the genocide war , one of those armies , the government side with help from civilians , is involved in mass killings . By the evening of 7 April with killings becoming widespread and the RPF battalion in the parliament building coming under attack , the RPF renewed its offensive south . The RPF troops within the parliament building had fortified their defences during the previous months , in case they were caught in the capital with their supply lines cut and under attack . Now , these troops were engaged by the Rwandan army in the nearby army camp at Kanombe , near the airport . The rebel forces within the parliament complex , commanded by Lt Col Charlis Kayonnga , began to fight their way out and began to attack the surrounding government - held districts . Their primary focus , however , was to move north and link up with the main rebel army . The main RPF forces in the north began a three pronged attack on the morning of 8 April . One group moved west to Ruhengeri and Char Mobile Force commanded by col Gashumba engaged government forces there , although they would make little progress and were more likely a defensive force securing the right flank of the RPF advance south . The second group under the command of Colonel Eugen Bagire ( Commanding officer of the 7th Battalion ) and Lieutenant - Colonel Fred Ibingira ( Commanding officer of the 157 Battalion ) moved down the eastern border of the country towards Kibungo . The third group under the command of Colonel Sam Kaka ( commander of ALFA Mobile Force ) , Col . Charlis Ngoga ( 59th Battalion ) , Col . Musitu ( 21st Battalion ) , Charlis Muhire ( 101 Battalion ) and Ludovic Twahirwa ( known as Dodo , commander of the Bravo Mobile force ) managed to make a major advance towards the capital by the evening of 11 April . Both sides began to reinforce and strengthen their positions , with the RPF beginning a slow but effective encirclement of the city . On 12 April , the provisional government fled to Gitarama in an attempt to escape the fighting . In the east , the RPF faced little government resistance and reached the Tanzanian border on 22 April . However , with almost all of the RPF ' s heavy equipment focused on the battle for Kigali , the western advance on Ruhengeri stalemated . In the capital , the RPF advance continued its slow yet methodical encirclement of the city , forcing the airport to close on 5 May due to intense shelling . A further sign of the success of Kagame ' s troops was the cutting of the Kigali - Gitarama road on 16 May . This was followed six days later by the capture of Kigali International Airport . In an attempt to reverse the defeats that it was suffering , the FAR launched a counter - attack on 6 June , although this was halted almost immediately and failed to achieve any significant gains . The RPF forces , having control of the northern , eastern and southern suburbs , began to move north around the south - western edge of the city . This put further pressure on Gitarama which fell on 13 June . At this point , the RPF began to close in on the center of the capital , hoping to defeat the government forces in the field . This took the form of putting pressure on three sides of the city with infantry and light artillery and mortars , allowing the defenders no respite . Heavy fighting continued through June and into the first week on July . However , on 3 July the government forces began to withdraw from the capital , taking with them the majority of the civilian population . According to UN sources , they had almost completely run out of ammunition . The following day , after a three - month long battle , the RPF moved in and captured the entire capital . In the meantime , the RPF ' s eastern forces had reached the south eastern edge of the country and then swung on an axis , hinged on Kigali , westward . Through June they pushed the government forces west through the southern region , along the border with Burundi . They finally stopped following their capture of Butare on 2 July and the arrival of the French , who blocked their path with the implementation of Opération Turquoise . With the fall of Kigali , the government forces began to disintegrate . The army lost cohesion and began to rout , being closely pursued by the RPF . This made defending the last two northern towns of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi almost impossible . With his forces in the capital now freed up from the battle for Kigali , Kagame moved the bulk of his army north to capture the government ' s new power base . On 13 July , Ruhengeri finally capitulated , followed on 18 July by Gisenyi . In the south - west of the country , French forces from Operation Turquoise controlled a large area , which was given over to the RPF on 21 August 1994 , thus giving the RPF complete control of the country . Aftermath . The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the genocide in July 1994 , but approximately two million Hutu refugees - some who participated in the genocide and feared Tutsi retaliation - fled to neighboring Burundi , Tanzania , Uganda , and Zaire . Thousands died in epidemics of cholera and dysentery that swept the refugee camps . The international community responded with one of the largest humanitarian relief efforts ever mounted . The Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda , composed of Hutu troops and militia members , began to militarize the camps , using them as bases to overthrow the new RPF - dominated government . Its patience exhausted , Rwanda sponsored an invasion of Zaire in 1996 . Its chosen proxy force was the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo ( AFDL ) led by Laurent - Désiré Kabila . The AFDL and Rwandan forces , supported by Uganda , cleared the border refugee camps easily . However , many Hutu militants fled westwards , away from the border . The AFDL followed behind , marching towards Kinshasa as the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko collapsed . The AFDL overthrew the government and Kabila proclaimed himself the new president of the renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) in May 1997 . Kabila soon turned on his Rwandan and Ugandan supporters , who reinvaded the DRC in 1998 to overthrow Kabila . Kabila formed an alliance with the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda , the successor organization to the Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda . After Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and his son Joseph became president , Hutu militants reformed into the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda ( FDLR ) . The war ended officially in 2003 . However , the remnants of the FDLR and possibly other Hutu militants maintain a presence in eastern Congo . While not strong enough to pose a threat to the Kagame government , they continue to destabilize the Rwanda - DRC border region .