Angola to deploy troops to DR Congo

By Maria Konokhova, LUANDA Angola

Angola has announced that it will deploy a contingent of troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following consultations with the country's authorities to support the army and regional forces in operations aimed at ensuring peace in the region.

It was noted that the main objective of the troops that will be deployed is to help secure the areas occupied by members of M23 and protect ceasefire monitors.

The statement also indicated that the move follows decisions made at mini-summits held under the peace and security process in eastern DRC. According to the statement, Angola is acting in accordance with its responsibilities as a mediator within the framework of the Luanda Process. The country is hosting talks in its capital, Luanda, between the DRC and Rwanda, which stands accused by the Congolese government of supporting the M23 rebellion - an accusation Rwanda denies.

The Congolese government has reportedly responded to Angola's decision to send troops, saying that it would welcome the deployment of soldiers to help in the fight against the rebels.

Last week, the rebels announced a ceasefire to resolve the conflict with the DRC government. The group stated that it had stopped fighting in accordance with the recommendations and agreements accepted at a meeting held last November with President of Angola Joao Lourenco and other regional meetings.

But the fighting reportedly resumed hours after the rebels' press release on the ceasefire. Both sides of the conflict accused each other of breaking the truce. Earlier, President Felix Tshisekedi expressed doubts about the sincerity of the rebels' move, saying that "several ceasefire commitments have been announced without being respected."

The East African Community (EAC) is leading a peace initiative to ensure a ceasefire and peace in eastern DRC. Amid increasing tensions in the country and M23 advances across North Kivu province in the east, in June 2022, the EAC established a regional force to help stabilize the situation, deploying troops from member states, including Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and South Sudan.

The Luanda summit, which was held in November last year within the framework of the peace process, concluded with the decision to cease hostilities starting on November 25 by setting up a disarmament of M23 in the country under the control of the DRC army and a multinational regional force.

However, in January this year, M23 missed the agreed deadline to fully withdraw from the previously occupied areas.

The current force is what’s left of the original M23 Movement formed in April 2012. M23 was an offspring of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, better known by its French acronym CNDP, a rebel group which fought the DRC government between 2006 and 2009.

Both groups draw on a claim that the Congolese Tutsi and other ethnic communities in north and south Kivu are discriminated against. They are considered of Rwandan descent and are commonly referred to as “Rwandophones”.

One of the consequences of this discrimination is the presence of tens thousands of refugees in the Africa Great Lakes region.

The majority of M23 rebel combatants originate from North Kivu province and specifically from Masisi and Rutshuru.

These territories are close to the border of Rwanda where fighting takes place. They are extremely familiar with this terrain and might enjoy local support from inhabitants. The city of Goma is also within this vicinity.

The area of Rutshuru territory alone is approximately 5,300km², equivalent to a fifth of Rwandan territory. The region occupied by M23 borders Rwanda, Uganda, and DRC and has a huge traffic of commercial trucks carrying goods from the Kenyan port of Mombasa through Uganda to Goma and Bukavu in the DRC.