On Sunday, the first contingent of soldiers from South Sudan arrived in Goma, which is located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Apr. 2nd).
At least 45 soldiers are joining together to become a part of a regional military force in the area that is being torn apart by the M23 rebellion.
In June of this past year, the East African Community (EAC) came together to form a military force consisting of all seven member states. The M23 fighters are scheduled to be withdrawn from eastern DRC under its watchful eye.
A significant portion of the region is troubled by dozens of armed groups, which is a legacy of the regional wars that broke out in the 1990s and 2000s.
Since reawakening in the late years of 2021, the M23 rebels have taken large swaths of land in the province of North Kivu and have made their way to within a few dozen of kilometres of the city of Goma, the province’s capital.
The conflict has not been diffused despite the best efforts of several regional initiatives, such as ceasefires, which were intended to do so.
According to a timetable that was approved by the EAC in the middle of February, the 30th of March was supposed to mark the end of the withdrawal of “all armed groups.”
