At the beginning, the intervention did not go well, as Rwanda is very demographically dense and its terrain is quite rough. Furthermore, the Hutu Power regime was supported by Zaire – as Mobutu was pissed that the United States threw him under the bus – and Eastern European mercenaries. 

Despite the difficulties, by 1996, the Coalition had liberated the northern half of Rwanda from the Interahamwe. In September, they launched Operation Kitara, an offensive that led to the collapse of Théoneste Bagosora's regime over the next six months. 

On 26 January 1997, the Coalition launched a siege of Kigali, which was captured on 19 February. Two weeks later, Bagosora was captured and bought to trial in Kigali, ending the war with Rwanda under the control of the RPF. Paul Kagame became the de facto leader of Rwanda and began rebuilding the country. 

Despite this, the conflict was not over, as the Interahamwe fled to Zaire and began preparing an offensive to reconquer Rwanda. Following Mobutu's death on 7 September 1997, Zaire fell into anarchy, with his son Nzanga controlling Kinshasa and surrounding areas and a litany of rebel groups seizing the rest of the country. 

Rwanda reacted by invading Zaire, defeating the Interahamwe and other rebels and putting much of Eastern Zaire under military occupation. The Mobutist regime eventually collapsed in 2001, but the Congolese Civil War is still ongoing as of December 2025, with one fifth of the DRC outside of Kinshasa's control.

After the Rwandan Genocide broke out in 1994, the United States intervened in Rwanda in order to end the genocide and protect Rwandan civilians.