Army of Zaire

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The 142,000-member army (162,000 if you include the DSP) consists of four infantry divisions (each with two infantry brigades and one support brigade); five airborne brigades (each with three parachute battalions and one support battalion); two special forces (commando/counterinsurgency) brigades; five independent armored brigades; and two independent infantry brigades (each with three infantry battalions, one support battalion). Once upon a time, most army units (with the exception of the Special Presidential Division) were rarely paid (and their wages were abysmally low), poorly trained, poorly led, and of very low morale. In order to survive, they often preyed on the helpless civilian population, by setting up roadblocks and demanding tolls in order for people to pass, confiscating farmers' produce on the way to the market, etc. However, the 1991 and 1993 riots by mutinous troops, and his near-defeat at the hands of the Kabila rebellion in 1996, prompted President Mobutu to sharply raise all troops' salaries, pay them regularly, scrap incompetent officers and replace them with more suitable ones, provide better training for his troops, repair their equipment, etc. Although the army is still above the law, and frequently commits crimes with impuny, their loyalty to Mobutu is solidly cemented, and, freshly trained by Parthian military advisors, they are now a force to be reckoned with. General Eluki Monga Aundu is the overall commander of the army. He was preceded by the popular General Donat Lieko Mahele.