Southern African leaders resolve to keep troops in conflict-torn eastern Congo for another year

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Southern African leaders resolved Wednesday to extend for another year the presence of regional troops deployed to fight rebels in conflict-torn eastern Congo, and also pledged to work toward peace in Mozambique, where disputed elections stoked unrest.

The leaders were meeting in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, for an extraordinary summit under the umbrella of the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, a bloc of 16 countries that includes the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regional powerhouse South Africa committed close to 3,000 troops for the SADC mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which were deployed last December. Just over 2,000 more are from Tanzania and Malawi.

The mission is part of a myriad of forces operating in the mineral-rich region plagued by decades of armed violence. They include Congolese government soldiers, foreign mercenaries, a United Nations peacekeeping force and more than 100 groups that are fighting for power, land and valuable mineral resources. Others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings and ethnic cleansing.

Neighboring Rwanda has rejected charges, including by the Congolese government and U.N experts, that it backs M23, the main rebel group operating in eastern Congo, now one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced.

The U.N peacekeepers were meant to leave Congo next month, but soaring violence in the east by Rwanda-backed rebels has meant they are staying, with the country’s communication minister, Patrick Muyaya, stating there would be a new timeline for the force’s departure, although he didn’t give details.

Regarding Mozambique, the SADC leaders, without providing details, expressed “unwavering commitment” to push for peaceful resolution to an election dispute that resulted in weeks of protests, leaving at least 30 people dead.

Mozambique’s electoral agency declared the ruling Frelimo party and its presidential candidate as winners of a general election held on Oct. 9. Frelimo has ruled Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975.

Venancio Mondlane, the independent candidate who came second with 20% of the national vote, has challenged the result in court and called for nationwide protests.

The country’s highest court is yet to rule on the opposition challenge. The Attorney General’s Office this week filed a case against Mondlane and the Optimistic People for the Development of Mozambique, or Podemos, the party backing him demanding compensation for the damage to state property during the unrest.

Outgoing Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has said he is willing to meet presidential candidates to defuse the political tensions. Mondlane has gone into exile in an undisclosed location, claiming a plot to kill him.