1998 — Africa's World War Begins

On August 2, 1998, mutinying soldiers in eastern Congo turned on President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, igniting the Second Congo War. What began as a rebellion inside one vast country quickly pulled in neighbours and armed movements from across the region, turning a national crisis into a continental war.

Nine African nations and some twenty-five armed groups were drawn in before the fighting ended in 2003. By then, an estimated 5.4 million excess deaths made it the deadliest conflict since World War II. Its grim nickname, "Africa's World War," captured both its scale and the sorrow of a war fought largely in Congo.