Editing Rwandan Defence Force (section)

== Historical outline 1960–1994 ==
{{Hutu militants}}
While Rwanda was a Belgian colony administered as a part of [[Ruanda-Urundi]], its security was provided by the [[Force Publique]], the colonial army of the [[Belgian Congo]]. As the Congo was due to achieve independence in 1960 and withdraw its forces, the Belgian Special Resident decided to create an indigenous army to provide for Rwanda's security. On 19 May 1960, he ordered the recruitment of a 650-strong military force to become the Garde Territoriale. The force was later renamed the Garde Nationale.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=280}} The U.S. Army's ''Area Handbook for Rwanda'', compiled in 1968–9, describes the security forces of Rwanda in 1969 as the 2,500 strong National Guard and the National Police, about 1,200 strong.<ref>Richard F,. Nyrop, 'Area Handbook for Rwanda,' DA 550-84, research completed 1 April 1969, p.184-185</ref>

The Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) was the national army of Rwanda until July 1994, when the government collapsed in the aftermath of the [[Rwandan genocide]] and the war with the [[Rwandan Patriotic Front]] (Inkotanyi). The FAR was estimated at 7,000 strong, including approximately 1,200 members of the [[Gendarmerie]]. Elite troops included the Presidential Guard, estimated at between 1,000 and 1,300 troops, as well as the Paracommando and Reconnaissance units.<ref>Des Forges, 1999, p.43</ref> These two units were of battalion strength by 1994, and then counted a total of 800 troops.<ref>Des Forges, 1999, p.194</ref>

In response to the RPF invasion of 1990, the 5,000-man FAR rapidly expanded, with French training assistance (as many as 1,100 French troops were in Rwanda at a time<ref>Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, p.163, cited in Des Forges, 1999, p.118</ref>), to some 30,000 by 1992.<ref>[[Alison Des Forges]], 'Leave None to Tell the Story,' [[Human Rights Watch]], March 1999, {{ISBN|1-56432-171-1}}, p.60</ref>

The [[Arusha Accords (Rwanda)|Arusha Accords]], signed on 4 August 1993, laid out a detailed plan for the integration of the Rwandan Government and Rwandan Patriotic Front military forces.<ref>See [http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/services/cds/agreements/pdf/rwan1.pdf Arusha Accords], hosted at [[University of Ulster]], pages 49–71</ref> The Rwandan government was to provide 60% of the troops for the new integrated army, but would have to share command positions with the RPF down to the level of battalion. The new army was to consist of no more than 19,000 soldiers and 6,000 Gendarmerie.<ref>Des Forges, 1999, p.124-125</ref> However radical elements within the Rwandan government were implacably opposed to implementation of the Accords and, instead, began the planning that would lay the foundations for the genocide.

The Reconnaissance Battalion's commander, [[François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye]], and his subordinates played a key role during the genocide. Together with the Reconnaissance Battalion, the Paracommando Battalion under Major Aloys Ntabakuze and the Presidential Guard under Major [[Protais Mpiranya]] became the three most significant ''genocidare'' units.

Col. [[Marcel Gatsinzi]] was briefly named chief of staff of the Rwandan army from 6 to 16 April 1994, but was replaced by [[Augustin Bizimungu]], who was also promoted to major general on 18 April,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guichaoua |first1=André |title=From War to Genocide: Criminal Politics in Rwanda, 1990–1994 |date=2015 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-29820-3 |page=251 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KseuCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA251}}</ref> since Col. Gatsinzi opposed the genocide.<ref>Des Forges, 1999, p. 264</ref> Bizimungu was only briefly chief of staff before fleeing the country. Many soldiers of the FAR have since been implicated by the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]] in the genocide, including its leader during the genocide, Col. [[Théoneste Bagosora]], who was chief of the ''cabinet'' (private office) of the Ministry of Defence prior to the genocide.

Many elements of the former Rwandan regime, including soldiers of the FAR, fled to eastern [[Zaire]] after the RPF victory, where they formed the [[Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda]] (RDR), which later became the [[Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda]] (FDLR), which is still active in eastern [[Democratic Republic of Congo|Congo]]'s [[North Kivu]] Province.