Eastern and Southern African blocs weigh deployment to eastern Congo

KINSHASA, DR Congo

Eastern and Southern African countries are looking into the possibility of deploying troops to secure areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo now under M23 rebel control, according to a document seen by our reporter on Tuesday.

The EAC and SADC regional blocs have previously called for a ceasefire in the war in the mineral-rich region, which Congo's prime minister said this week had killed some 7,000 people since January.

The document detailed recommendations to defence chiefs after a meeting of technical experts in Tanzania on February 23. The defence chiefs are expected to prepare a report that will be discussed this coming weekend.

The document says the blocs are considering seeking a mandate, along with unspecified forces from the African Union to secure M23-controlled areas in North and South Kivu provinces, and that the U.N. peacekeeping mission MONUSCO could also be asked to beef up its presence in the region.

"It is a proposal; we have not yet been notified," an African Union source said, adding that any AU participation would need to be approved by its Peace and Security Council.

The Rwandan-backed rebels have captured its two biggest cities, Goma and Bukavu, and the airports that service them, cutting off the main supply routes for aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

To improve the provision of humanitarian assistance, help repatriate the deceased and evacuate the injured, the two blocs' experts suggest negotiating with M23 to reopen the routes and Goma airport.

The document said the status of the Southern African bloc's mission to Congo, known as SAMIDRC, needed to be discussed with parties to the conflict.

The 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), which extended its military mission in Congo late last year to help the Congolese army fight the rebels, has suffered losses since the start of 2025.

Rwanda denies allegations that it provides arms and troops to M23, the latest in a long line of ethnic Tutsi-led rebel movements to emerge in Congo's east. It says it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia which it says is fighting alongside the Congolese military.