[5] The area boasts an array of wildlife species, including mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, African Forest Elephants, lions, giraffes, and vervet monkeys.

It also hosts African buffalos, baboons, clawed frogs, dwarf crocodiles, savannah monitors, gray duikers, common agamas, and endangered eastern lowland gorillas.

[9][10][11][12] South Kivu is a melting pot of various ethnic groups, including the Shi, Fuliiru, Bembe, Vira, Lega, Nyindu, Holoholo, Bwari, Hunde, Nyanga, Amba, Swaga, Shu, and Mbuti.

During the First and Second Congo Wars, it became a battleground for the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), and the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD).

Various armed groups and militias have operated in the area, leading to displacement, human rights abuses, and the disruption of essential services.

Its plateaus and hills served as strategic strongholds for the advancing AFDL forces, who aimed to pursue Hutu refugees, particularly the ex-FAR/Interahamwe, while simultaneously seeking to overthrow Mobutu's government.

This response was prompted by the mistreatment of Tutsi civilians under Mobutu's regime, which subjected them to arbitrary arrests and detentions conducted by Zairian police and soldiers.

[30] The AFDL forces, resorting to indiscriminate killings, mass executions, and acts of torture, initiated the First Congo War with a massacre in the Lemera groupement (grouping) of South Kivu, on October 6, 1996.

[28][31] On October 20, 1996, the AFDL forces killed an unknown number of refugees and Zairian civilians in Rubenga, a village in South Kivu.

[32] Another attack occurred on October 21, 1996, in Lubarika village, where an unknown number of Rwandan and Burundian refugees, along with Zairian civilians, were killed by the AFDL forces.

[33] In Kamanyola, on October 20, 1996, the AFDL forces killed an unknown number of refugees and Zairian civilians, disposing of their bodies in pit latrines.

Laurent-Désiré Kabila's government faced multiple accusations of marginalizing Tutsi political factions, excluding them from his administration, and displaying preferential treatment toward his Katanga clan.

[43] As civilians sought shelter or attempted to flee the combat zone, they fell victim to the FAC in confrontations, resulting in hundreds of fatalities.

Moreover, on the same day, members of the ANC, the armed wing of the RCD rebel, killed 13 people, including the chief of the Kiringye area, in the village of Lwiburule in South Kivu.

[43] Another massacre unfolded as elements of the ANC/RPA claimed the lives of 15 individuals in the vicinity of Kivovo, Kigongo, and Kalungwe, all situated in South Kivu.

[44][47] From December 30, 1998, to January 2, 1999, RCD forces committed another massacre, claiming the lives of over 800 civilians, primarily belonging to the Babembe community, in the small village of Makobola in South Kivu.

Many victims endured machete attacks or were shot at close range, while others met their demise through burning or drowning in nearby rivers.

Infants and young children were callously thrown into deep pit latrines, left to perish, while adults who dared to disobey orders and attempted to escape were met with bullets.

[50][51][52] The war officially ended in 2003 with the signing of the Sun City Agreement, which aimed to establish a transitional government and promote peace and stability in the DRC.

Consequently, a considerable number of Congolese view the Banyamulenge as unwelcome intruders encroaching upon their native territories, thereby intensifying the deep-rooted animosity directed towards them.

[24][26][56] Masunzu is Munyamulenge (South Kivu Banyamulenge Tutsi) who broke with the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) back in 2003.

In July 2007, United Nations human rights expert Yakin Erturk called the situation in South Kivu the worst she has ever seen in four years as the global body's special investigator for violence against women.

Women, who survived months of enslavement, told me that their tormentors had forced them to eat excrement or the human flesh of murdered relatives.

Meanwhile, its tributaries—the Sange, Kavinvira, Kavimvira, Luvimvi, Luvungi, Luvubu, Luberizi, Runingu, Mulongwe, Kiliba, Kalimabenge, and Lugulu Rivers—run through the verdant terrains, nurturing the surrounding ecosystems and supporting farming activities.

[78][79][80][81] Similarly, other areas in South Kivu Province also faced the wrath of floods, including Nyambasha, Bushushu, Rambira, and Nyamukubi in Kalehe Territory.

Heavy rains and rising water levels overwhelm local infrastructure and defenses, causing homes to collapse and forcing residents to flee for safety.

[93][94][95] The northern town of Minova expanded rapidly from 1994 to 2012 with a steady inflow of refugees following the Rwandan genocide as well as both First and Second Congo Wars, along with ongoing regional conflicts.