Rwanda to Give Safe Passage to Return of SADC Forces

(3 Minutes Read)

Kigali has in the past been critical of the SADC forces positioned in Congo, straining its relations with South Africa. The SADC forces have suffered several casualties in the previous months from the ongoing war.

Rwanda has agreed to give safe passage to Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces. This was confirmed by the Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, who confirmed this was at the request of SADC, which requested to use the eastern African territory as they exit the war-ravaged eastern Congo.

Kigali has in the past been critical of the SADC forces positioned in Congo, straining its relations with South Africa. The SADC forces have suffered several casualties in the previous months from the ongoing war.

The force of several thousand peacekeeping troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania had been sent to eastern Congo by the SADC in 2023 to help the Congolese government pacify a mineral-rich region plagued by various insurgencies.

The troops failed to stop the lightning assaults starting in January by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels that have claimed several key cities and that left several peacekeepers dead, eroding support for the mission in the donor countries.

The SADC leadership announced their withdrawal earlier this month. The SADC mission was part of a myriad of forces operating in the mineral-rich region plagued by decades of armed violence.

They include Congolese government soldiers, foreign mercenaries, a United Nations peacekeeping force, and more than 100 groups fighting for power, land, and valuable mineral resources.

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The withdrawal of SADC troops comes after the M23 took control of eastern Congo’s main city of Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu, in offensives over the past two months.