The Third Congo War was a conflict in Central Africa that occurred from September 2015 to June 2017. It was the result of widespread anger at the 2015 DR Congo presidential elections, in which the incumbent president, Joseph Kabila, won, even though the vast majority of people said they voted for Alexandre Kayembe, a new candidate in the election. This resulted in mass protests, which escalated into riots as the police and republican guard tried to quell them with lethal force. It escalated into full scale civil war when Kayembe declared the formation of the Congolese Revolutionary Movement (CRM), which was intent on overthrowing Kabila. The movement's militias captured much of the eastern DRC in the first several months, getting almost 20,000 army defectors.