Thread by @TRF_Stories

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the #RwandaGenocide, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and left many more homeless

Here's a look at how it all unfolded...

THREAD

In 1990, rebels of the Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded northern Rwanda from neighbouring Uganda

The RPF’s success prompted President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, to speed up political reforms #RwandaGenocide #Rwanda

In August 1993, Rwanda and the RPF signed a deal to end years of civil war, allowing for power-sharing and the return of refugees

But President Habyarimana was slow in implementing it and a transitional government failed to take off #Rwanda #RwandaGenocide

On April 6, 1994, #Habyarimana and neighbouring Burundi’s President Cyprien #Ntaryamira were killed in a rocket attack on their plane

The next day, presidential guards killed moderate Hutu Prime Minister Agathe #Uwilingiwimana, who had tried to calm tensions #RwandaGenocide

Habyarimana’s death triggered 100 days of violence, perpetrated mainly by Hutus against Tutsis and moderate Hutus

About 800,000 people were killed, many butchered with machetes by militia known as #Interahamwe

#Rwanda

The RPF advanced and seized control of Rwanda after driving the 40,000-strong Hutu army and more than 2 million civilian Hutus into exile in Burundi, Tanzania and the former Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo #RwandaGenocide

In July 1994 a new government was sworn in with Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, named president and RPF commander Paul Kagame as vice-president

Kagame was elected president in April 2000 and remains in the office

#RwandaGenocide

In December 1996, Rwanda’s first genocide trial opened under the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) #RwandaGenocide

It accused Theoneste #Bagosora of being in charge of the troops and Interahamwe Hutu militia who carried out the massacres

He was found guilty and given a life sentence – though it was reduced to 35 years on appeal in 2011

#RwandaGenocide

Rwandan troops invaded neighbouring Congo in the 1990s to try to hunt down perpetrators of the genocide, and again in the 2000s

Conflict in Congo since 1998 is estimated to have left over five million dead, mostly through hunger and disease

#RwandaGenocide

'AlertNet', now Thomson Reuters Foundation News (@TRF_Stories), was set up after the #RwandaGenocide to cover wars, natural disasters and health emergencies - including the 'forgotten' crises that don’t make headlines elsewhere

Follow our coverage at news.trust.org

Today #Rwanda embarks upon a week of commemorative activities and 100 days of national mourning

You can find out more detail about the events that took place 25 years ago here #RwandaGenocide news.trust.org/item/201904061…