As the crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo deepens, South Africa will attempt to send 2,900 troops to combat armed groups in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo as part a new initiative by Southern African Development Community.
It was estimated that the cost of the deployment will be in the range of over 2 billion rand ($106 million), according to the presidency.
The deployment came in time as United Nations peacekeepers, which included South African soldiers, steadied to exit the region after unrest with Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi.
Sources didn’t say how the deployment, which will be in place until Dec. 15, will be funded but said it won’t bother the South African National Defence Force activities.
Other countries including Tanzania and Malawi are also contributing troops to the cause, known as SAMIDRC.
Congo says the M23 force, led mainly by Tutsi group, is supported by neighboring Rwanda while United Nations experts claim members of the Rwandan Defence Force has been providing support in Congo.
However, Rwanda has claim that it has not supported the group as the M23 forces noted they protecting Tutsis from discrimination in Congo and fighting Rwandan rebels in the country who have connections to the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
