The Rwandan Patriotic Front 1990-1994

Description

On 1 October 1990, hundreds of Banyarawanda militants that served with the Ugandan Army deserted their posts to form the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and invade Rwanda. Thus began the Rwandan Civil War, which was to culminate in the famous genocide of nearly one million of Tutsi and moderate Hutus, in 1994. Starting with in-depth descriptions of the history of Rwandan political, military and security development, this volume traces the history of the RPA from its emergence as a small-scale insurgent group formed from the ranks of Rwandan refugee diaspora in Uganda; its military operations and related experiences during nearly four years of war against the Rwandan government; and its establishment of control over Kigali, in July 1994. As such, the narrative presented here provides a fascinating and unique insight into the military story behind the emergence of modern-day Rwanda and its military; considered by many to be the`Israel of Africa'. Providing minute details about RPF's tactics and doctrine - that strongly influenced developments in a number of other modern-day African wars - this volume is foremost an offering that provides highly interesting backgrounds for and a prequel to, nearly all of the subsequent wars in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Illustrated with over 150 photographs, colour profiles, and maps describing the equipment, colours, and markings, and tactics of the RPF and its opponents, this is a unique study about the emergence of one of the most important US allies on the African continent.

Tom Cooper is an Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian. Following a career in worldwide transportation business - during which he established a network of contacts in the Middle East and Africa - he moved into narrow-focus analysis and writing on small, little-known air forces and conflicts, about which he has collected extensive archives. That resulted in specialisation in such Middle Eastern air forces as of those of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, plus various African and Asian air forces. Except for authoring and co-authoring more than 30 books - including an in-depth analysis of major Arab air forces at wars with Israel in period 1955-1973 - and over 1000 articles, Cooper is a regular correspondent for multiple defence-related publications.