Fighting between militias attached to Congo-Brazzaville's rival political leaders destroyed much of Brazzaville in the June–October 1997 war, which ended with Denis Sassou-Nguesso's return to power with Angolan military support. A second round from December 1998 centred on the southern Pool, Bouenza, Niari and Lékoumou regions. According to the Global IDP Project profile, roughly 500,000 people fled Brazzaville in 1997 and an estimated 810,000 — about 30 per cent of the population — were displaced from December 1998, with the towns of Dolisie and Nkayi emptied entirely. Médecins Sans Frontières reported that more than 250,000 people fled the capital into the forests of the Pool in December 1998, where they were beyond the reach of aid for months; when about 200,000 returned from May 1999, MSF recorded 14,700 cases of severe and 31,000 of moderate malnutrition, describing an unprecedented nutritional and medical emergency. Most of the displaced went home during 2000, though the Pool remained unstable.
Militias loyal to Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Pascal Lissouba and Bernard Kolélas, with Angolan military backing for Sassou-Nguesso, fought for Brazzaville and the southern provinces, driving civilians into the forests of the Pool
UN Population Division estimates put the country at about 2.8-2.9 million in 1997, of whom roughly 950,000 lived in Brazzaville. The June-October 1997 war emptied much of the capital, and the 1998-99 fighting in the Pool region displaced most of its population into the forest; UN agencies estimated some 810,000 people displaced in total, about a third of whom were still displaced at the end of 1999.
No systematic count of the dead was made in either war. Estimates for the 1997 battle for Brazzaville range from several thousand to over ten thousand, and further thousands died in 1998–99, but these figures come from press and diplomatic reporting rather than from surveys. MSF's data on returnees — 14,700 severely and 31,000 moderately malnourished by October 1999 — indicate substantial mortality in the Pool forests from hunger and disease that was never quantified.
Large-scale destruction and looting of homes in Brazzaville and the southern towns is documented in the Global IDP Project country profile.
Congo