Kenya To Send Troops To Congo To Fight Rebels - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2022) Kenya will send its military units to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for combat against rebels of the March 23 movement (M23), a Kenyan tv channel reports.

According to broadcaster NTV, the Kenyan army will be deployed in the provinces South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri in the east of the country. The troops will enter the Congo through the town of Bunagana bordering Uganda. The area has been controlled by the M23 since June.

The Kenya Defense Forces have been preparing for deployment in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the East African Community (EAC)'s regional forces, which have been given the task of fighting the rebels, the channel reported.

In August, Burundi sent its troops to the Congo, the media adds.

In June, the leaders of the EAC agreed to create a coalition to end the conflict in the east of the Congo sparked by the M23. The Congo accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, the latter denied the accusations. Both countries claimed the other was shelling its border territories.

The M23 movement, which is fighting for the interests of the Tutsi ethnic minority, suffered a heavy military defeat in November 2013 and was disbanded. In November 2021, the rebels took up arms again, accusing the authorities of the DR Congo of violating agreements that provided for the integration of disarmed M23 rebels into army.