RWANDA ESCORTS SOUTHERN AFRICA TROOPS FROM CONGO TO TANZANIA

Rwanda escorted the troops of a Southern African force through Rwandan territory to Tanzania on Tuesday as they pulled out from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda’s foreign minister and army spokesperson said. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which groups 16 states, said in mid-March it had terminated the mandate of its mission and would begin a phased withdrawal of its force, known as SAMIDRC, from Congo. By Reuters

Southern African bloc begins troop withdrawal from DRC. Troops to travel by land through Rwanda to designated area in Tanzania where they will fly to their respective countries

The force was sent to assist Kinshasa’s fight against rebel groups in Congo’s eastern borderlands in December 2023, prompting protests by the Rwandan government, which said the deployment would aggravate the conflict.

« The presence of SAMIDRC troops was always a complicating factor in the conflict, and today’s start of withdrawal marks a positive step in support of the ongoing peace process, » Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on X.

Many of SAMIDRC’s troops, thought to number several hundred, sought shelter in U.N. peacekeeping bases after Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, fell to Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in February.

Rwandan army spokesperson Ronald Rwivanga said a portion of those troops departed on Tuesday, and that their convoy would arrive in neighbouring Tanzania in « a few hours ».

A witness said Rwandan army and military police personnel escorted some 20 vehicles over the Congo border into the Rwandan town of Gisenyi. The convoy carried what appeared to be military equipment along with Tanzanian and South African soldiers, the witness said.

An ambulance within the convoy had SAMIDRC signage on it, and the drivers told bystanders the vehicles were going to Tanzania, the witness added.

An M23 source said only half of the SAMIDRC force in Goma left Congo on Tuesday. The remainder would follow later, he said.

In March 2024 Rwanda asked the African Union and its partners not to support SAMIDRC, accusing the force of fighting alongside a Congolese government coalition that included fighters linked to the Rwanda genocide.