President William Ruto took a bold step to address the escalating conflict and deteriorating situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ruto appealed to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame to heed the call for peace from the people of EAC and the international community.

The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

NAIROBI KENYA - Seventeen UN peacekeepers have been killed this year in clashes between M23 rebels and government forces in the eastern Democratic Re

( MENAFN - IANS) Kinshasa, Jan 30 (IANS) Felix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), promised a "vigorous response" to advances of March 23 Movement (M23) rebels in the eastern DRC, amid peace efforts by regional groups.

East African Community leaders have urged DRC President Félix Tshisekedi to engage with M23 rebels to de-escalate the conflict.

According to a communiqué from the 24th Extraordinary Summit, called by President William Ruto, seven heads of State were present, including Paul Kagame of Rwanda, but Felix Tshisekedi was not. “The summit called on all parties to the conflict in Eastern DRC to cease hostilities and observe immediate and unconditional ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian access to the affected population,

In April 2022, EAC leaders met in Nairobi, Kenya, and agreed to establish a regional force to be deployed in eastern DRC to facilitate dialogue between the warring parties. While the DRC government and the rebels agreed to a ceasefire, tensions persisted.

The war for Goma was the most recent episode of combat in eastern DRC, a volatile region plagued by regional rivalries, ethnic tensions, and armed group battles for more than three decades

DR Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi said on Thursday that his troops were mounting a military response as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters advanced in the east of the country .

Insults are flying on both sides of the border, with diplomatic language tossed aside. Addressing ambassadors on 16 January, Paul Kagame did not mince his words. “I know leaders when I see them, and I also know idiots when I see them,” he said. “You can [imagine] the combination of both of them, the disaster it is.”

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

Angolan President João Lourenço received his Congolese counterpart Félix Tshisekedi for a joint analysis of the steps to be taken within the framework of the Luanda Process, after the situation created with the seizure of Goma by rebel forces.