(Reuters) -Rwanda’s army is escorting the troops of a Southern African force through Rwandan territory to Tanzania as they pull out from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesperson for the Rwandan army said on Tuesday.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which groups 16 states, said in mid-March it had terminated the mandate of its mission and would begin a phased withdrawal of its force, known as SAMIDRC, from Congo.
The force was sent to assist Kinshasa’s fight against rebel groups in Congo’s eastern borderlands in December 2023.
Many of its troops sought shelter in United Nations peacekeeping bases after Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in February.
(Reporting by Congo Newsroom; Writing by Hereward HollandEditing by Bate Felix, William Maclean)
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