This is a list of wars involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
| Conflict | Combatants | Result | Sovereign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stairs Expedition (1891–1892) |  Congo Free State | Yeke Kingdom | Victory
| |
| Congo–Arab War (1892–1894) | Congo Free State | Slave traders | Victory
| |
| Batetela Rebellion (1895–1908) | Congo Free State | Tetela rebels | Victory | |
| Mahdist War (1896–1899) |  United Kingdom Congo Free State  Ethiopia  Italy |  Mahdist Sudan | Victory
| |
| Conflict | Combatants | Result | President | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congo Crisis (1960–1965) |  Congo-Léopoldville  ONUC |  Katanga  South Kasai  Belgium Congo-Stanleyville | West-Congolese victory(Phase 1)
| |
 Congo-Léopoldville Belgium  United States |  Simba Maoists  Uganda  Cuba | Government victory(Phase 2)
| ||
| First Stanleyville Mutiny (1966) | Congo-Léopoldville | Mutineers | Victory
| |
| Second Stanleyville Mutiny (1967) |  Congo-Léopoldville | Mutineers | Victory
| |
| Conflict | Combatants | Result | President | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angolan Civil War (1975–1979) |  FNLA  UNITA  FLEC  South Africa  Zaire |  MPLA Cuba | Defeat
| |
| Shaba I (1977) | Zaire  Morocco  Egypt |  FNLC | Victory
| |
| Shaba II (1978) | Zaire  France Belgium Morocco | FNLC | Victory | |
| Chadian–Libyan Conflict (1983–1987) |  Chad France Zaire |  Libya GUNT | Victory
| |
| Rwandan Civil War (1990–1991) |  Rwanda France Zaire |  FPR | Withdrawal (1991)
| |
| First Congo War (1996–1997) | Zaire UNITA ALiR  Interahamwe |  AFDL Uganda Rwanda  Burundi  Angola  Eritrea | Regime change
| |
The earliest known human settlements in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been dated back to the Middle Stone Age, approximately 90,000 years ago. The first real states, such as the Kongo, the Lunda, the Luba and Kuba, appeared south of the equatorial forest on the savannah from the 14th century onwards.
Orientale Province is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary changes between 1898 and 2015, when it was divided into smaller units.
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a wildlife reserve in the Ituri Forest in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the borders with South Sudan and Uganda. At approximately 14,000 km2, it covers approximately one-fifth of the area of the forest. In 1996, the Okapi Wildlife Reserve was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to its large population of endangered okapis and its high overall biodiversity.
The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted when Congolese president Laurent-Désiré Kabila turned against his former allies from Rwanda and Uganda, who had helped him seize power. Eventually, the conflict expanded, drawing in nine African nations and approximately 25 armed groups, making it one of the largest wars in African history.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO, is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At the request of the DRC's government, it is withdrawing completely from the country by the end of 2024.
Direct elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo occur for the Presidency, National Assembly, and provincial assemblies. The Senate, and provincial governors are elected indirectly by members of the provincial assemblies.
Ituri Province is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the subdividing of the former Orientale province. Ituri was formed from the Ituri district whose town of Bunia was elevated to capital city of the new province.
The Hema people or Bahema (plural) are a Bantu ethnic group who are concentrated in parts of Ituri Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Ituri conflict is an ongoing low intensity asymmetrical conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While the two groups had fought since as early as 1972, the name "Ituri conflict" refers to the period of intense violence between 1999 and 2003. Armed conflict continues to the present day.
Operation Artemis, formally European Union Force Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUFOR), was a short-term European Union-led UN-authorised military mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003, during the Ituri conflict. ARTEMIS is considered the first military operation led by the EU, the first autonomous EU operation, the first rapid response mission of the EU, first operation outside Europe, first operation applying the principle of the framework nation and first example of "relay operation", conducted in cooperation between the EU and the United Nations. The deployment of EUFOR troops quickly decreased the conflict's intensity. It marked the first autonomous EU military mission outside Europe and an important milestone in development of the European Security and Defence Policy.
Congolese history in the 2000s has primarily revolved around the Second Congo War (1998–2003) and the empowerment of a transitional government.
The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and an East African Community regional force.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1468, adopted unanimously on 20 March 2003, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council welcomed an agreement on the establishment of a transitional government and requested an increased presence of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) in the Ituri region in the east of the country amid escalating violence.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1484, adopted unanimously on 30 May 2003, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council authorised Operation Artemis in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, amid the deteriorating security situation in the area.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2005.
Cobra Matata is a former leader of the Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI) and Popular Front for Justice in Congo (FPJC) militias active in the Ituri conflict in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was previously a member of the D.R. Congo armed forces (FARDC), having integrated in 2007 before deserting to reconstitute a rebel group in 2010. In November 2006, Matata had agreed to disarm in exchange for amnesty. In the FARDC, Matata attained the rank of colonel or general. The International Criminal Court classified Matata as Ngiti.
Attacks were carried out by various armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2021 and 2022. The attacks have killed 629 and injured 321. At least 82 perpetrators were also killed and one injured in these attacks.
Events in the year 2021 in the Republic of the Congo.
Between August 5 and 7, 2022, suspected ADF forces attacked the villages of Kandoyi and Bandiboli, in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the attacks, ADF militiamen burned down houses and attacked residents, killing 10 people in Kandoyi and 5 others in Bandiboli. Fighting between Congolese forces, Mai-Mai, and other rebel groups occurred in the area at the time.
The Ituri Self-Defense Popular Front, more commonly known as Zaïre-FPAC, is a decentralized Hema militant group or groups operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC). They were formed in response to Cooperative for Development of the Congo (CODECO) expansions and the ongoing Ituri conflict. Fery little is known about the group, their organizational structure, or members. The group has committed several massacres and atrocities, and was "strongly condemned" by the United Nations in 2023 for their human rights abuses.
