The Mozambican President said that, for the time being, he would not be adding his troops to the SADC mission fighting in the DRC, indicating that it would continue to be made up of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.
‘ Mozambique ‘s position was to continue supporting the efforts being made mainly by Angola, which is mediating the conflict through the African Union [AU],’ said Daniel Chapo, in a statement distributed by the Mozambican Presidency this Saturday (01.02), after the extraordinary SADC summit held on Friday in Harare, Zimbabwe.
For the time being, said Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, Mozambique, which receives support from Rwanda in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado province, will not add its troops to the SADC mission fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), indicating that it will continue to be made up of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.
‘So far, in what has happened during the summit, the three remain and we want to reiterate once again that as a country our position is really to continue to support these efforts,’ said Chapo.
On Monday, the President-in-Office of SADC and Zimbabwean leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, condemned the attacks against United Nations (UN) and SADC peacekeepers in the east of the DRC by rebel groups such as M23.
According to the United Nations (UN), the M23 rebel group and between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan soldiers have gained ground in recent weeks and are laying siege to the town of Goma, which has a million inhabitants and at least as many displaced people.
The summit of heads of state and government was called after four more South African soldiers were killed in fighting with the M23, the South African Defence Force confirmed on Tuesday, bringing to 13 the number of South African soldiers killed since last week.
‘If eastern DRCongo doesn’t have peace, the region won’t have peace,’ warned the President of Burundi.
‘It’s not just Burundi. Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, it’s the whole region. It’s a threat,’ he continued, before adding that his country would not “allow itself to be threatened”.
On Friday, the United Nations coordinator in the DRC, Bruno Lemarquis, warned that the city of Goma was facing an ‘extremely serious’ humanitarian situation as a result of the fighting.
‘The humanitarian situation is extremely serious in Goma and requires the immediate attention of the international community. On behalf of the humanitarian community in DRCongo, I call for respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians by all parties,’ Lemarquis said via social media.
Lemarquis warned that Goma is facing humanitarian needs, while response capacity is ‘seriously affected’ and medical facilities are full.
Between 23 and 28 January, Lemarquis said, the city’s hospitals – supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) – treated more than a thousand wounded.
M23’s armed activity resumed in November 2021 with attacks against the Kinshasa Army, supported by allied militias, in North Kivu and has since advanced on several fronts until it reached Goma.
Lusa
