KIM KARDASHIAN AWARDED SYMBOLIC 1 EURO IN DAMAGES OVER 2016 PARIS ROBBERY.(PHOTO).
South African troops withdrawing from the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have begun assembling in Tanzania and most should return home this month, the defence chief said on Sunday, AFP reported.
Under the phased withdrawal that started on April 29, the troops are to exit the DRC via Rwanda by road before entering Tanzania, General Rudzani Maphwanya said.
From there they will return to South Africa by sea and air by the end of May, he said.
The soldiers are part of a regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) force that deployed to the eastern DRC in December 2023 during a resurgence of the M23 armed movement.
Most of pullout to be complete by end of May
The M23 now controls swathes of territory in the mineral-rich region.
Thirteen trucks with 57 members of the SADC peacekeeping force (SAMIDRC) had already gathered at an assembly point in Tanzania, Maphwanya told reporters.
The next group was scheduled for withdrawal next week, he said.
"The movement from Tanzania to (South Africa) will be by air for personnel and by sea for cargo," he said. "Most of the personnel will be nearly complete in South Africa by end of May 2025, except for those who have to oversee the shipping part of the equipment."
Separate evacuation
SADC decided to end its SAMIDRC mission in mid-March after 17 of its soldiers – most of them South Africans – were killed in M23 offensives in January. They have been stranded there since.
Three Malawian troops in the SADC deployment were also killed, while Tanzania said two of its soldiers died in clashes.
The evacuation from the DRC was not a sign of weakness or the abandonment of people caught up in the fighting, Maphwanya said.
"Our withdrawal is a technical move that allows peace and mediation to continue."
It came after US President Donald Trump's senior Africa adviser met Congolese and Rwandan representatives in Qatar last week in what the US said was an effort to end the crisis.
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