Rwanda

1993
The Arusha Peace Accords were signed on August 3 between the Rwandan government and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) under mediation to end the Rwandan Civil War that had been raging for three years.

1994
Rwandan President Habyarimana and the Burundian President are killed on April 6 when their plane was shot down near Kigali Airport, with Hutu extremists suspected as behind the attack; Hutus immediately began anti-Tutsi mobilization of the militias. The Rwandan Genocide began on April 7 when Hutu militias set up roadblocks and killed Tutsis house-to-house, blocking the UN from intervening; thousands of Tutsis died on the first day alone as ten Belgian soldiers were murdered after being tricked to give up their weapons. The Tutsi Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) launched a major offensive on April 8 to end the killings and rescue 600 troops surrounded in Kigali. UN soldiers abandoned the airport in Rwanda on April 11, enabling the murders of hundreds of civilians. UN peacekeeping troops were withdrawn on April 21 as hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed. Tens of thousands fleed to Tanzania, Burundi, and the Congo on April 30.

The RPF Tutsi forces cut the road between Kigali and Gitarama, the temporary home of the interim Hutu government, on May 16. The UN agreed on May 17 to send 5,500 troops to Rwanda.

Tutsi RPF forces seized control fo Gitarama, the temporary home of the interim Hutu government, on June 13, following an unsuccessful attempt by the Rwandan government to reopen the road, forcing their relocation. French forces were deployed to Rwanda on June 22 with no sign of UN deployment, establishing a "safe area" in territory controlled by the government.

Tutsi RPF forces captured Kigali on July 4, forcing the Hutu government to flee to the Congo, followed by a tide of refugees. The French ended their mission on the same day and were replaced by Ethiopian UN troops as killings continued. The Rwandan genocide ended on July 15 when Tutsi RPF forces regained control over the rest of Rwanda and forced the government Hutus to Congo and surrounding countries; an estimated 800,000 Rwandans had been murdered in the four months. The US military started Operation Support Hope on July 22 to provide immediate relief for the refugees and allow a humanitarian management program.

2014
Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide, France opened its first trial against a suspected accomplice in the massacre on February 4.