Kenyan troops who were part of the East African Community Regional Force (EAC-RF) have left the Democratic Republic of Congo after the end of their mandate. The EAC-RF troops began their withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday morning. The EAC-RF said their mandate is peacekeeping and the protection of civilians while also supporting the political track on dialogue ¹.
However, the M23 rebels in the region have announced that they will occupy places abandoned by the exiting EAC-RF troops from Eastern Congo. A spokesman for the group, Lawrence Kanyuka, said there is ethnic cleansing in the area hence the need for them to occupy the areas. “Following the departure of the EACRF from DRC, for the well-being of the civilian population, the M23 will recover and occupy all its areas that it handed over to EACRF at the beginning of the peace process,” said part of a statement by the group. The statement thanked the troops for their work done so far ².
Kanyuka said the M23 is committed to resolving the ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC and will not spare any effort to protect the civilian population and to defend itself professionally. The M23 calls upon the international community and humanitarians to break their silence over the ongoing ethnic cleansing perpetrated by DRC government and the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Masisi ².
The UN estimates that there are between 300-500 rebel groups in eastern DRC fighting one another and against the central government, besides inter-and-intra-ethnic hostilities that have ¹.
The future of the deployment was thrown into doubt over the withdrawal of the EAC-RF troops after DRC authorities refused to renew its mandate ¹. The East African Community (EAC) first deployed troops in the violence-plagued region in November last year after the resurgence of the M23 rebel group. At the time, the Congolese authorities invited the EAC to deploy its forces to free the areas conquered by the rebels ¹.
