On Sunday, thirty Burundian soldiers arrived at Goma airport in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to join an international force assisting Kinshasa in combating the growth of militias in the region.
The troops will be sent as part of a regional force established by the East African Community (EAC) to try to halt the M23 rebellion’s march and disband the hundred or so armed organizations that plague eastern DR Congo.
The seven-nation EAC sent troops to the region late last year.
The conflict in North Kivu province has displaced tens of thousands of people and heightened tensions, with the DRC government accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23, which Kigali denies but which the US and numerous Western governments support.
The militia re-emerged from dormancy in late 2021, subsequently occupying swathes of territory in North Kivu, including much of the region north of its capital Goma.
The EAC, which has held several meetings to defuse the crisis and called for the withdrawal of the M23 from occupied areas, created a regional force aimed at stabilising the eastern DRC.
An EAC press statement on Friday confirmed Burundian troops would be deployed, but did not elaborate on the number of soldiers travelling to the DRC.
According to a new timetable adopted by East African leaders last month, “all armed groups”, including the M23, must withdraw by March 30.
At the airport on Sunday, General Emmanuel Kaputa Kasenga, deputy commander of the East African contingent, met the Burundian arrivals and spoke of their mission.
He told the soldiers that they would “participate in the unconditional withdrawal of the M23 rebellion”.
The Burundian troops will join forces with a Kenyan army contingent of about 1,000 men deployed in and around Goma since November.
