Second Batch Of Kenyan Troops Deployed To DRC
The second batch of Kenyan troops is due to arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday.
They are part of a regional force deployed for a peacekeeping mission in the east of the country, according to BBC News.
Armed groups have stepped up attacks in recent months raising concern about the threat they pose to the region’s security.
More than 900 Kenyan troops will be based near the town of Goma in the volatile region.
Burundi soldiers have been operating in South Kivu province since August.
The Kenyan troops will be in North Kivu province where the M23 rebels have seized more territory in recent months and displaced thousands of people.
The Congolese government is set to resume talks with representatives of various armed groups later this month in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
The current crisis erupted in November 2021, when the largely defunct March 23 Movement (M23) militant group carried out strikes on military positions of the FARDC in the villages of Chanzu and Runyonyi in North Kivu Province, just west of the Ugandan and Rwandan borders.
The longstanding rivalry between Uganda and Rwanda in the DRC and the Great Lakes region is a key driver of the current crisis. There is a profound level of mistrust at all levels, between the DRC and its neighbours, particularly Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, as well as between all of these neighbours.
In August this year, Rwandan troops attacked soldiers inside DR Congo and aided the M23 rebel group with weapons and support, a United Nations group of experts said.
