South Sudan joins Uganda, sends troops in DRC under EAC regional force

The first contingent of South Sudan's army arrived Sunday in Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), under the mandate of the regional force of the East African Community (EAC).

Composed of about 40 military personnel, the first South Sudanese contingent, transported by the Kenyan army plane, will be deployed around Goma for peacekeeping operations.

"As of this Sunday and during the coming week, we begin the deployment of our colleagues from South Sudan who will join the other colleagues already deployed on the ground," Emmanuel Kaputa, deputy commander of the EAC regional force, declared at the Goma airport.

This deployment came a few days after the deployment of nearly 1,000 Ugandan soldiers in the territory of Rutshuru of North Kivu.



In 2022, the EAC countries set up a regional force to intervene in eastern DRC, in particular, to stem the advance of the March 23 Movement rebel group.

With this deployment, South Sudan is the fourth East African country to join Uganda, Kenya and Burundi to deploy their troops on the ground in North Kivu as part of the peace mission validated and adopted by the EAC member countries.

The main mission of these forces is to end local and foreign armed groups active in the northeast of the DRC, more particularly the M23 rebels who have occupied several areas in North Kivu since last year.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council adopted a presidential statement, demanding the end of any further advances, and withdrawal from all occupied areas by M23 rebels in the DRC.

The Security Council demands the immediate and full implementation of commitments on the cessation of hostilities, the end of any further advances by the M23, and its withdrawal from all occupied areas as agreed through the African Union-endorsed Luanda Process, read the statement.

The M23 emerged from the rebel group National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), which laid down arms in March 2009, following a peace agreement stipulating that its soldiers would be integrated into the Congolese police and army, while the CNDP's political wing would become an officially acknowledged party.

A faction within the CNDP, however, subsequently denounced the poor implementation of the agreement and developed into the M23, which took its name from the date of the peace agreement, in April 2012. It later occupied Goma in 2012.

After its military defeat in 2013 and barring some minor incidents, the M23 lay dormant for almost a decade until late 2021 when it ramped up attacks again. In addition, the M23 in May 2022, took control of vast parts of Rutshuru territory, in particular, the capture of the Bunagana border town in June 2022.



According to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in early March 2023, more than 20,000 people have been displaced due to recent fighting in the eastern DRC. In the past year, more than 800,000 people have been affected by renewed fighting between Congolese forces and the M23