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The DRC, previously the Belgian Congo, has a history of exploitation that began with King Leopold II's brutal regime in the late 19th century, which set a tone of resource extraction and violence in the region. After gaining independence in 1960, the DRC fell into a cycle of instability marked by corrupt leadership and a series of conflicts, including multiple civil wars, most notably the two Congo Wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Rwanda's involvement can be traced back to the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Hutu extremists fled to the DRC, establishing a fragile and volatile context that would lead to more violence, as Congal and Rwandan forces clashed over ethnic and territorial disputes.