system of Hutu presidency and Tutsi military operated until 1996, when Tutsi Pierre Buyoya replaced the Hutu president in a coup, ostensibly to restore order. As the government had already been under de facto military control by this point, the coup mostly cemented the status quo. Upon assuming power, Buyoya took action to solve the war peacefully. He brought the radical Tutsi mostly under control, forcing their militias to integrate into the military or to be disbanded. Buyoya also attempted to open negotiations with the insurgents. Despite this, the coup also strengthened the Hutu rebel groups, as Buyoya's regime was regarded as illegitimate, and neighboring countries imposed an embargo on Burundi to protest against the coup. The civil war consequently escalated in intensity. Hutu rebels grew in power and killed about 300 Tutsi in a major attack on 20 July 1996. The increasing activity of the Hutu rebels in Burundi worried the Rwandan government, and influenced its decision to launch the First Congo War in late 1996 to overthrow President Mobutu of Zaire. By doing so, Rwanda hoped to eliminate Zaire as haven for various Hutu rebel groups; the CNDD-FDD had for example set up major bases at Uvira and Bukavu in eastern Zaire from where it launched raids into Burundi. Although Rwanda successfully overthrew Mobutu in a matter of months and replaced him with Laurent-Désiré Kabila, CNDD-FDD rebels still managed to significantly expand their operations in 1997. Infiltrating Bururi Province and Makamba Province in Burundi's south, they even attacked Rutovu, Buyoya's home town and center of Burundi's Tutsi elite at the time. In fact, at least elements of the new Congolese government under Laurent-Désiré's son Joseph Kabila came to support the Burundian insurgents by the early 2000s just as Mobutu had done it previously. In response to the deteriorating security situation, the government opted to organize a new paramilitary initiative. The military forced civilians to organize unarmed patrols to guard their communities against rebels. Though the state authorities claimed that these self-defense groups consisted of volunteers, civilians were generally coerced with threats of violence or fines. Most of the civilian militiamen were also poor Hutu, while Tutsi and wealthy or well conntected Hutu were generally exempted of the patrol duties. As result of demands by Tutsi extremist politicians, the military also set up a special, armed training program for Tutsi militiamen; Hutu were not allowed to join this training.