Kinshasa, March 18th, 2023 (CPA). – The Angolan National Assembly authorised on Friday, during an extraordinary plenary session broadcast live on public television, the dispatch of a contingent of about 500 soldiers to Nord Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to monitor the cantonment sites of M23 terrorists.
The text voted unanimously in parliament provides for the deployment of these soldiers for a period of 12 months. The plenary was convened at the request of President João Lourenço, the African Union (AU) appointed mediator for the resolution of the security crisis in eastern DRC.
« This contingent will not come to attack, but to check how things are going, » said Christophe Lutundula, the Congolese deputy prime Minister in charge of foreign affairs, at a weekly briefing.
The dispatch of the contingent comes after several failures of the ceasefire decision taken by the heads of state at the Luanda mini-summit. The Angolan troops will join Kenyans and Burundians deployed as part of the regional force created by the Community of East African States (EAC). CPA/
