A group of close to 200 soldiers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), who have been fighting in eastern DR Congo, were repatriated after they were given passage through Rwanda on Monday, February 24. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on Tuesday confirmed the repatriation of its members who were injured during fighting in eastern DR Congo, where they fought alongside the Congolese armed forces and its coalition allies, including the genocidal FDLR militia, against the AFC/M23 rebels. ALSO READ: South Africa has no better option than withdrawal from Congo, says expert The SANDF said the soldiers “needed urgent medical attention,” adding that another group would arrive in the country during the course of the week. The South African soldiers boarded a plane at Kigali International Airport, alongside dozens of Malawians and Tanzanians who are also part of SADC force in DR Congo. The plane stopped in Tanzania and Malawi, according to the South African media. The exact number of the repatriated SADC solders remained unclear although some sources said they were 194, with majority of them being South Africans. The injured SANDF members were taken to 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday morning, according to South African state broadcaster SABC. ALSO READ: South African MPs call for inquiry into troop deployment to DR Congo The SADC troops had been stranded in eastern DR Congo since late January, when the AFC/M23 rebels captured the strategic city of Goma, forcing government soldiers and their allied Wazalendo and FDLR miltias, European mercenaries and Burundian troops to either surrender or flee. Calls to have them airlifted from Goma airport were futile because of unexploded ordnance and other military equipment that remain in place. SADC has been facing mounting pressure to withdraw its troops from DR Congo after 14 South African soldiers were killed in fighting before the M23 rebels took control of Goma on January 28. ALSO READ: M23 commander who took part in seizure of Goma links FDLR to MONUSCO South Africa has particulalry faced criticism over its active support for the Congolese armed forces, which fight alongside sanctioned terrorist militias such as the FDLR, founded by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. South African opposition parties have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw all SANDF members immediately, pointing out the deployment was not a peacekeeping mission, as claimed by government. ALSO READ: 'Are you ready to fight?' When M23 commander confronted SADC camp Leaders of the SADC and the East African Community (EAC) blocs have agreed to support peace talks between the Congolese government and the AFC/M23 rebels, who have also taken control of Bukavu, another key city in eastern DR Congo. Subsequently, a joint EAC-SADC peace process for DR Congo has been established with three mediators appointed on Monday. Former presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and former Ethiopia’s former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn have been named the facilitators under the SADC-EAC process, the result of a merger of the Luanda and Nairobi processes.
