East African military bloc approve exit plan as regional force's mission in DR Congo ends

KIGALI, Rwanda

Four nations’ armies from the East African Community Regional Force (EAC-RF) on Friday announced an exit plan from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after nearly a year of deployment in the country's east.

Following the DR Congo government's decision not to extend the current mandate of the force, which is set to expire on Friday, the East African Community (EAC) Chiefs of Defense Forces/Staff decided to discuss the modalities of the exit during an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday in Arusha, Tanzania, the military bloc said in a statement.

For nearly three decades, the eastern part of DR Congo has been plagued by violence from several armed groups, with thousands of people living in camps in the two most conflict-affected provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

To support the restoration of peace and stability, military personnel from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and South Sudan were deployed in Nov. 2022 as part of the multinational EAC-RF force in the eastern DR Congo.

However, the deployment's future was later called into question after the country’s President Felix Thisekedi accused the force of cohabiting with the rebels rather than forcing them to lay down their arms.

The government in Kinshasa said the troops' mandate would not be extended beyond Dec. 8, 2023.

Earlier on Nov. 25, the East African Community announced that the DR Congo "would not renew the mandate of the regional force beyond December 8, 2023.”

The military chiefs upheld the decision of the government and “recommended to the EAC defense ministers that EAC-RF officially ceases its operations in eastern DR Congo with effect from Dec.8,” the statement said.

“Troop contributing countries are to commence the withdrawal of their forces from eastern Congo in line with the adopted exit plan,” it said.

Kenya has withdrawn 300 personnel and South Sudan will withdraw 287 by late Friday, according to the exit plan.

Burundi and Uganda will withdraw their forces and backload their equipment by road and air between Dec.8 and Jan.7, 2024.

Amid ongoing clashes between government forces and rebels in eastern DR Congo, the military chiefs urged the warring factions to cease hostilities so that peace talks could continue.

Besides the regional force, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) has been deployed in eastern DR Congo since 1999.

However, President Tshisekedi has also expressed disappointment with the effectiveness of the heavily funded UN mission of about 15,000 peacekeepers in stemming violence.

The UN in 2020 also announced a phased withdrawal of its largest mission to begin in 2024.