DRC trouble brews for Mugabe, Mnangagwa

Zimbabwe's costly military adventure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) two decades ago continues to haunt the country, with a group of retired soldiers now accusing ousted former president Robert Mugabe and top military chiefs of looting rich diamond mines that were allegedly given to Harare by Kinshasa for deploying its troops there.

The controversial deployment of at least 12 000 Zimbabwean soldiers in the DRC by Mugabe in August 1998 - to rescue the regime of the late Congolese president Laurent Kabila from an offensive by Rwanda, Uganda and some rebel groups - massively contributed to the demise of the local economy, whose implosion escalated when the nonagenarian encouraged chaotic land reforms.