Leader: Laurent Kabila
General area of operations: western and southern Congo.
Forces: Armed Forces of the Congo (FAC): 40 000 to 45 000 poor-quality troops, most of them formerly in Mobutu’s army, collected by Kabila and stationed around the country.
Angolan armed forces: 2 500 to 3 000, stationed mainly around the diamond mining centre of Mbuji-Mayi and guarding the Kinshasa-Matadi railway line.
Zimbabwe National Army: 10 000, also mainly at Mbuji-Mayi, Kabinda, Kamina and Lubumbashi.
Chadians: none left; departed recently through Central African Republic leaving chaos in their wake.
Mai-Mai: about 2 500 warrior/hunters; formerly known as Simba rebels; they regularly rebelled against Mobutu in Shaba (aka Katanga) province.
Ngilima: about 1 000 to 1 500 warrior/hunters
Interahamwe: about 40 000; Hutu militia and former Hutu members of Rwanda’s armed forces responsible for anti-Tutsi genocide; now filtering back into Kivu province bordering on Rwanda in hope of renewing offensive against Rwandan Tutsis. Other Hutu militias: more than 13 000, including several obscure groups known as Palipehutu, Frolina, CNDD/FDD and the Tigers.
RWANDA/RALLY FOR CONGOLESE DEMOCRACY (RCD)
Leaders: Paul Kagame for Rwanda; RCD leadership split between “politicals” around Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, and “militarists” around Emile Ilunga and Deogracias Bugera. Reason for split appears to be Wamba dia Wamba’s concern that, under Rwandan influence, the issue of security for Rwanda and the Banyamulenge is dominating what should be a broader struggle for democratisation in the Congo.
General Area of Operations: east-central Congo.
Forces: RCD: 45 000 to 50 000, mainly former soldiers in the army that initially brought Kabila to power, then turned against him.
Rwandan armed forces: the pick of the belligerents; about 12 000 highly motivated and relatively well-trained troops in Congo, mainly on the front near Mbuji-Mayi; also operating in Kivu province bordering on Rwanda to clear out genocidal interahamwe and other Hutu militias.
Unita: about 3 000 to 4 000 of the Angolan rebels are situated in rear bases in south- central Congo around Tshikapa; some are also involved in training Bakongo rebels operating under Rwandan officers near Mbanza-Ngungu in far south-western Congo.
Burundi: about 1 000 Burundian Tutsis operating against Hutu militias mainly along the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
UGANDA/MLC
Leaders: Yoweri Museveni, for Uganda; Jean- Pierre Bemba, wealthy Congolese businessman and former Mobutu ally, for the MLC.
General area of operations: northern Congo.
Forces: MLC: 5 000 to10 000 soldiers, mainly former pro-Mobutu troops and recruited largely in Equateur province.
Uganda: 16 000 troops, stationed in, among
other places, Bunia, Isiro and Buta.