A Rwanda- and Uganda-backed rebellion erupted in eastern DRC, rapidly expanding the conflict into a multi-state war against President Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s government and its allies.
Rebel forces launched Operation Kitona, moving the war into western DRC and threatening Kinshasa, highlighting the conflict’s rapid geographic expansion beyond the east.
Regional heads of state signed the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, a major diplomatic attempt to halt fighting, establish monitoring mechanisms, and enable a UN peacekeeping role.
Rwandan and Ugandan forces—nominally allied against Kinshasa—fought openly in Kisangani, exposing fractures among intervening states and further regionalizing the conflict.
UN Security Council Resolution 1279 created MONUC, the UN mission tasked with supporting ceasefire implementation and laying groundwork for peacekeeping operations in DRC.
President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated at the Palais de Marbre, creating a sudden leadership crisis during ongoing regional war and accelerating succession planning.
Joseph Kabila was inaugurated as DRC’s president, inheriting an active multi-state conflict and re-energizing peace diplomacy that had stalled under his father.
The Inter-Congolese Dialogue opened in Addis Ababa, bringing government, rebel movements, political opposition, and civil society into a formal process to negotiate a transition.
At Sun City, an agreement was signed by some belligerents as part of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, illustrating partial but important movement toward a transitional political settlement.
DRC and Rwanda signed the Pretoria Accord, linking Rwandan troop withdrawal to disarmament and repatriation efforts aimed at addressing security threats and de-escalating cross-border intervention.
Congolese government, key rebel movements, and political opposition signed the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement to form a power-sharing transitional government and prepare for elections.
The Inter-Congolese Dialogue formally endorsed the All-inclusive Agreement on the Transition (signed 2002-12-17) alongside complementary transition/security texts, helping clear the way for a transitional state architecture.
The Transitional Government was established to reunify institutions and implement the peace framework; Joseph Kabila was sworn in as transitional president with four vice presidents representing key factions.
UN Security Council Resolution 1484 authorized a temporary multinational emergency force to stabilize Bunia in Ituri, where severe violence threatened civilians and the wider peace process.
Under UN authorization, the EU deployed Operation Artemis to secure Bunia and protect civilians until MONUC could be reinforced—an early example of an EU rapid-response military mission in Africa.
A broad-based transitional cabinet was announced to operationalize the power-sharing arrangements and prepare for national elections under the agreed transition roadmap.
The four vice presidents representing the government, major rebel movements, and political opposition took office, signaling implementation of the transitional power-sharing architecture.
With the Transitional Government established and key agreements implemented, the war is widely dated as officially ending, even as localized and successor conflicts persisted—especially in the east.
UNSC Resolution 1493 strengthened MONUC’s mandate, increased authorized troop levels, and imposed an arms embargo targeting armed groups in eastern DRC (notably Kivu and Ituri).
Second Congo War and Regionalization of Conflict (1998–2003)
