Army for the Liberation of Rwanda

The Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) is a guerrilla force that is leading an insurgency against the government of Rwanda, largely from bases in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The conflict between the ALIR and the government of Rwanda is related to deep divisions among the ethnic groups of Rwandan society, for centuries before the colonial period—and for many years after—between the minority Tutsi and the majority Hutu. In the early 1990s, a Tutsi-led rebel army began attacking Rwanda from neighboring Uganda; by early 1994 the rebel forces had taken large parts of the countryside and were approaching the capital. The Hutu-controlled government then initiated a massive genocide against Rwandan Tutsi and any Hutus believed to be collaborating with them. An estimated 500,000 people were killed. By late summer, the Tutsi rebels had conquered the government forces and stopped the genocide. Tens of thousands of Hutus fled into the neighboring [Page 48]Congo, including much of the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and the civilian militias, known as the Interahamwe, that FAR had recruited to carry out the genocide.

The Rwandan government's desire to eliminate the remaining FAR and Interahamwe precipitated a complex chain of events that included the 1997 overthrow of Congolese dictator Joseph Mobutu, the installation of guerrilla leader Laurent Kabila in his place, a 1998 war in Congo involving nine African nations (in which Rwanda and Uganda opposed the Kabila regime and its allies), and finally the July 2001 assassination of Laurent Kabila and his replacement by his son, Joseph. For most of this period, the Hutus in Congo fought against the Rwandan forces and were supported by the Kabila regime. Under the leadership of Joseph Kabila, the provisions of a peace accord signed in 1999 have begun to be enforced, and the Hutu rebels are no longer receiving active support from the Congolese government. In March 2001, the Rwandan Army withdrew its forces to a position near the Congo-Rwanda border.

The ALIR was formed during these chaotic years—apparently in an attempt to coordinate Hutu groups' efforts at defense. The organization issued a threat against U.S. interests in Rwanda in 1996, but the group did not emerge as a recognized and organized forced until sometime in 2001. The ALIR leadership is mostly composed of former FAR officers, but its membership as a whole includes many fighters who were not implicated in the original genocide—a large proportion were children in 1994—but who became involved in the conflict after becoming refugees. Papers seized at ALIR encampments suggest that a Christian evangelical movement may be associated with the group, but the scant evidence available precludes speculation on the ALIR's religious character. The ALIR has set up jungle training camps run by former FAR and Interahamwe members to train its new recruits. Accurately estimating the strength of the ALIR forces is difficult; however, the number of armed and active troops appears to be several thousand.

In 2001, following the Rwandan Army's fallback, the ALIR again attacked Rwandan territory, concentrating on military targets. The Rwandan Army maintains that its counterattacks have split the ALIR into two groups, the first of which the Army claims to have nearly eliminated. Continuing upheaval in the region makes prediction difficult, but some observers have speculated that the ALIR may move its base of operations to neighboring Burundi and thus enlarge the conflict. However, the Rwandan government seems confident that it can defeat the remaining ALIR forces.