Before the battle itself, the air force, Serbian mercenaries and Rwandan Hutu militiamen were not enough to make up for the FAZ's lack of fighting spirit.

After a few timid Zairian offensives in January 1997, the rebels commanded by James Kabarebe arrived in the vicinity of the town of Kisangani.

Since October 1996 and the capture of Bukavu, the rebels, initially Banyamulenge supported by Rwandan soldiers, have been advancing from the African Great Lakes region.

[2] For their part, the FAZ planned from November 1996 to launch an offensive from the town of Kindu – south of Kisangani – in order to retake the east of the country.

[7] Bosnian Serb mercenaries, commanded by Colonel Dominic Yugo [sr], were recruited to reinforce the FAZ, in a unit nicknamed the White Legion.

[18] Commanded by Stany Kalala and Gaston Munyangu, 500 to 2,000 Katangese Tigers[19] incorporated into the 24th regiment of the Angolan army[1] also joined the rebel troops,[20] bringing heavy artillery,[21] Stalin organs and armor to the AFDL/APR forces.

[20] In view of the advance of Kabila's troops in eastern Zaire, in early 1997 the FAZ launched two counter-attacks from Kisangani towards Bafwasende and Walikale, with the battalion's forces of order (500 to 700 men).

According to an interview with James Karabe published after his break with Kabila, the AFDL leader suggested that the rebels hide in tree tops to scare off the mercenaries.

Another legend about the fighting is that the Katangese Tigers tried to cross the river protected by a magic ritual and suffered very heavy losses.

[31] On March 13, FAZ/ex-FAR troops in position at Babagulu, 48 km east of the town, were defeated after being surrounded by rebels guided by the population.

[40] The departure of the Mobututists was seen as a liberation by the inhabitants of the town, marked by the memory of Patrice Lumumba, father of Congolese independence, who was arrested by Mobutu and assassinated in 1960.

[42] The myth of European military invincibility in Africa[16] was shattered: the costly recruitment of foreign mercenaries proved ineffective.

[42] Under pressure from the French and Americans, Mobutu called on his long-time opponent, Étienne Tshisekedi, to head a government of national unity, which excluded the Mobututists.

[47] The capture of Kisangani was soon followed by that of Lubumbashi in Katanga,[12] enabling the AFDL's final push towards Kinshasa and the collapse of the Mobutu regime, which had ruled the country unchallenged for over thirty years.

[50] Access was extremely difficult for humanitarian organizations and, by April, around a hundred people were dying every day due to poor living conditions.