SADC countries are to begin withdrawing their troops from the DRC, regional leaders said after a meeting on Thursday.
The decision effectively ends the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which has been in the country since December 2023 with a mandate to engage armed groups in the east.
“On the basis of well-considered factors and reflections on the initial mandate, this Extraordinary SADC Summit has made the bold decision to withdraw our Mission from the eastern DRC. The withdrawal of SAMIDRC notwithstanding, our august regional body will remain seized with the political and security situation in eastern DRC,” SADC chair President Emmerson Mnangagwa said.
There would be a “phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops from the DRC,” SADC said in a statement.
The leaders’ decision is based on a technical report from a joint team of defence chiefs from SADC and the East African Community. The chiefs met February in Dar es Salaam after Rwandan-backed M23 rebels captured the key cities of Goma and Bukavu, in an escalation that killed over 15 SADC soldiers.
In their report, the chiefs stated that the “SAMIDRC mandate is in a dilemma and untenable following the latest developments.” They recommended the formation of a new joint EAC-SADC hybrid force to “securitise the areas under the occupation of M23 in North and South Kivu.” Hundreds of SADC troops are trapped under M23 control in the area.
On 6 March, the SADC Organ Troika Plus held a meeting with the SAMIDRC troop-contributing countries—South Africa, Malawi, and Tanzania—along with the DRC to discuss the report’s findings.
Regional leaders are now ending the troop deployment, just as a mediation effort announced direct talks are to be held between the warring sides. East African leaders had been calling for SADC to withdraw its troops, and that East African soldiers, kicked out of DRC in 2023, be allowed to return.
On Wednesday, Angolan President João Lourenço, who has been heading a mediation effort, announced he had brokered an agreement between the DRC and the M23 rebels for direct talks. The two sides are to meet on March 18 in Luanda, the Angolan government said.
SADC leaders said there was a need “for a political and diplomatic solution with all parties including state, non-state parties, military and non-military in the Eastern DRC for the restoration of peace, security and tranquillity in the country”.
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