Cape Town: South African armed forces said on Thursday they started withdrawing their peace-based soldiers from rebel-controlled eastern Congo.
The South African National Defense Force said that the soldiers started exiting early this week and would travel to Tanzania through neighboring Rwanda and would fly homes from there.
The soldiers of the Shanti Sena of Malawi and Tanzania have also started returning from the Congo. The three countries contributed soldiers to a Southern African peace force, but after an aggressive launch by Rwanda-supported M33 rebels in late January, they were trapped in Eastern Congo and controlled the strategic city Goma.
Fourteen South African and three Maliawan soldiers were killed in fighting with M23 in January. The South African regional body decided to end its peace missions early and bring soldiers home in March.
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Naduhungire said on X that his country was providing an escort for safe route and peace soldiers and their equipment.
On Wednesday, hundreds of trapped congenital government troops and police officers, along with their families, were shifted back from Goma to the Kangolij capital Kinshasa, which was according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was escorting them.
According to United Nations experts, M23 controls a second major city in Goma and Eastern Congo and is supported by about 4,000 soldiers from Rwanda.
Congo and Rwanda have been mediated by Qatar and held negotiations by the United States and said they are working towards a peace agreement.
