M23 rebels talk before leaving their position in Kibumba in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. PHOTO | COURTESY
Summary
· The decision was reached at talks attended by several heads of states, including DRC's Felix Tshisekedi, his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan and ministers from the regional group
Windhoek. Southern African countries on Monday agreed to deploy forces
to help quell violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where armed
groups have terrorised civilians for decades.
A special summit of the 16-bloc
Southern African Development Community, which includes South Africa, Angola and
Tanzania, backed the deployment "to restore peace and security in eastern
DRC", SADC said in a statement from the Namibian capital Windhoek.
The decision was reached at talks
attended by several heads of states, including DRC's Felix Tshisekedi, his
South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan and
ministers from the regional group.
The meeting did not give the numbers
of troops to be deployed nor a timeline for the deployment.
Armed groups have plagued much of
mineral-rich eastern DRC for three decades, a legacy of regional wars that
flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
One militia, the M23, has captured
swathes of territory in North Kivu since taking up arms in late 2021 after
years of dormancy.
The rebel campaign has displaced
over one million people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs.
Some troops from three SADC
countries -- South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi -- have already been operating
in eastern DRC since 2013 under the umbrella of the major a UN peacekeeping
force MONUSCO.
"South Africa stands ready to
contribute to the development of effective regional instruments that could
assist to stabilise the current security situation prevailing in the eastern
DRC," president Ramaphosa said in a statement.
'Immediate collective action'
The deployment will also add to an
East African regional military force that has taken over some areas previously
occupied by the M23 since December but has so far failed to thwart the
insurgency.
The East African Community (EAC)
force draws on troops from Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan.
There is a need for SADC to work
together with the East African Community and other (regional groups) in order
to better coordinate our efforts in support of government and people of the
DRC," Namibian President Hage Geingob told the summit.
SADC executive secretary Elias
Magosi said: "We are regrettably noticing a very disturbing security
situation in eastern DRC with the deterioration of the humanitarian situation
due to the resurgence of the M23 rebellion and illegally armed groups."
Acts of violence intensified over
the past year undermining the DRC’s "sovereignty and integrity" as
well as development prospects, as the country prepares for national elections
in December, Magosi added.
"This calls for immediate collective
action in support of the DRC to restore peace and security."
Tshisekedi is scheduled to visit
Botswana, which houses the headquarters of SADC, for four days from Tuesday.
The DRC accuses its smaller central
African neighbour Rwanda of backing the M23, something Rwanda has repeatedly
denied.
But US and French officials, as well
as United Nations experts, agree with the assessment.
UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres on Saturday urged African leaders to redouble efforts to bring peace
to conflict-wracked region.
Guterres addressed a meeting in
Burundi of African nations that signed the 2013 accord to promote stability and
security in DRC.
However, "Despite our
collective efforts, more than 100 armed groups -- Congolese and foreign --
still operate today and thus threaten the stability of the entire Great Lakes
region.
"It is time for the violence to
stop. I reiterate my call to all armed groups -- lay down your arms,
immediately," Guterres said.
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