APA-Windhoek (Namibia) The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has approved the deployment of a regional force to intervene in crisis-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where local and foreign armed groups have intensified destabilisation activities over the past year.
Leaders of the SADC security organ and countries that have contributed troops to the SADC Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) agreed during an emergency summit in the Namibian capital Windhoek on Monday to provide “immediate regional support to the Government of the DRC to address the prevailing security situation in the Eastern DRC, ahead of the national elections scheduled to be held in December 2023.”
“Summit approved the deployment of a SADC Force within the framework of the SADC Standby Force as a regional response in support of the DRC to restore peace and security in Eastern DRC,” the leaders said in a communique.
They, however, did not say how the proposed intervention force would be different from the FIB, which is already part of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
At least nine SADC member states have – through FIB – already contributed troops to MONUSCO, which is the first UN peacekeeping operation specifically tasked with carrying out targeted offensive operations to “neutralise and disarm” groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security in DRC.
At its formation in 2013, its main target was the M23 militia group and other Congolese and foreign rebel groups.
Monday’s Windhoek summit reiterated SADC’s “unwavering support” for the fight against M23 and other armed groups in eastern DRC to pave the way for sustainable peace and security in the country.
Renewed fighting by the armed groups – some of which are from neighbouring Rwanda and Burundi – has seen over 800,000 people being displaced from their homes in eastern DRC over the past year alone.
The SADC leaders called for a more coordinated approach, given the multiple deployments under multilateral and bilateral arrangements in eastern DRC and called on the Congolese government “to put in place the necessary conditions and measures for effective coordination amongst sub-regional forces and bilateral partners.”
Currently, efforts to resolve the DRC security crisis are being spearheaded by the East African Community, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and SADC.
The summit was attended by presidents of DRC, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania as well as representatives of the leaders of Angola, Malawi and Zambia.
JN/APA