Chiefs of Defence from East African Community (EAC) member states met in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday, February 21 to discuss the security situation in eastern DR Congo.

Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Mubarakh Muganga, attended the meeting.

The meeting was informed by the summit of EAC heads of state and their counterparts from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on February 8, in Dar es Salam, Tanzania after the M23 rebels seized the strategic city of Goma in eastern DR Congo.

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The EAC-SADC summit called for direct peace talks between the Congolese government and M23 rebels and the cessation of hostilities as an unconditional ceasefire by all state and non-state parties. They tasked the chiefs of defence from the two blocs to monitor the process.

The EAC defence chiefs met ahead of a joint meeting between EAC and SADC chiefs of defence scheduled for February 24.

"Their conclusions will inform the joint EAC/SADC meeting of [Chiefs of Defence Forces/Staff] scheduled to take place in Dar es Salaam on 24 February 2025, as instructed by the heads of state of the two regional blocks,” RDF said in a post on X.