Zaire collapsed in the 1990s , amid the destabilization of the eastern parts of the state in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and growing ethnic violence . In 1996 , , the head of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo ( AFDL ) militia , led a popular rebellion against Mobutu . With rebel forces successfully making gains beyond the east , Mobutu fled the country , leaving Kabila 's forces in charge as the country restored its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo the following year . Mobutu died within four months after he fled into exile in Morocco
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Zaire