The Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping force deployed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to combat the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) began its withdrawal on Tuesday, following an order issued by the regional bloc in late March.

“Rwanda is providing safe passage and escort to SAMIDRC troops and equipment convoys withdrawing from eastern DRC through Rwanda to Tanzania,” confirmed Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.

“The presence of SAMIDRC troops has always been a complicating factor in the conflict, and today’s start of the withdrawal marks a positive step in support of the ongoing peace process,” Nduhungirehe added via social media platform X.

Images shared by Congolese and Rwandan media showed a long convoy of soldiers and trucks from the mission—comprising troops from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania—crossing the border into Rwanda, a country that, according to the UN, United States, Germany, and France, has supported the M23.

The soldiers are heading to Tanzania, from where they will return to their respective countries. “We will leave nothing behind,” a South African soldier anonymously told South Africa’s Business Day newspaper.

After the M23 captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, in January, the SAMIDRC mission became trapped until it reached an agreement with the rebels in late March to enable its exit.

The agreement included SADC’s commitment to help repair Goma International Airport to facilitate the withdrawal. SAMIDRC had been supporting the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) in their fight against the insurgents.

The deal came two weeks after the SADC heads of state and government ordered the withdrawal of their troops during an extraordinary virtual summit held on March 13.

The decision followed the deaths of 18 SAMIDRC soldiers, mostly South Africans, in late January during M23’s offensive toward Goma, which the rebels captured on January 27 after intense fighting.

Three months later, amid renewed mediation efforts, signs of a potential resolution are emerging. On Friday, in Washington, under U.S. mediation, DRC and Rwanda signed an agreement to draft a preliminary peace pact for mutual review by May 2.

The conflict escalated in January when M23 seized Goma, and then in February, took Bukavu, the capital of neighboring South Kivu province—both mineral-rich areas bordering Rwanda.

Since the escalation, about 1.2 million people have been displaced in the two provinces, according to the UN.

M23, a rebel group mainly composed of Tutsis who survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide, resumed its armed activities in North Kivu in November 2021, launching swift attacks on the Congolese military.

Eastern DRC has been engulfed in conflict since 1998, fueled by rebel militias and army factions, despite the presence of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO).

EN ESTA NOTA: