The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been facing an unprecedented security crisis. After eight years of inactivity, the M23 rebel movement, consisting mainly of Tutsis, took up arms at the end of 2021.
The rebels have seized vast areas of North Kivu, a province of almost 60,000 km2 bordering Rwanda and Uganda, causing great material damage and mass displacement of the local population. Some residents of the area fled for to Kanyabayonga in the northwest, others to Vichumbi in the northeast, on the southern shore of Lake Edward.
In March 2024, the M23 rebels took control of several strategic settlements at the gates of the city of Goma, the administrative center of North Kivu province, in the east of the DRC, despite the presence of Sadc forces deployed specifically to counter this rebellion.
Sadc troops arrived in the DRC to help the government resolve the security crisis, which the UN mission, MONUSCO, deployed in the country for more than 20 years, failed to cope with.
The Blue Helmets proved so ineffective that the Congolese government announced their withdrawal in January 2024.
However, over time, the DRC authorities were forced to admit that SADC forces were not enough to significantly reverse the situation in the conflict. SADC fighters are already suffering heavy losses in the battles with the M23 rebels.
So, on April 09, 2024, three soldiers of the Tanzanian SADC contingent were killed as a result of mortar fire launched by rebels from the hills in the vicinity of the SADC camp. Two more soldiers of the South African contingent were killed in February as a result of mortar fire from the same hills of Mumbambiro in the vicinity of the village of Sake.
Finding himself in an almost hopeless situation, the General Staff of the DRC Army turned to the Russian Wagner group, famous for its combat successes, for support. Some Russian military specialists have already been quickly transferred from the neighboring Central African Republic to the DRC to fight the rebels in the east of the country.
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The fighters of the Wagner group once again demonstrated their effectiveness and professionalism by neutralising, together with the armed forces of the DRC, the commander of the ADF, nicknamed Baghdad.
According to a source from the General Staff of the DRC, for his brilliant work in ensuring security in the DRC, PMCs Wagner will receive access to gold and diamond mining.
It is noteworthy there is a solid background for Russian-Congolese military cooperation. Earlier, the media reported that a military agreement had been signed between the DRC and Russia.
However, this information was later refuted by the Congolese Government. Obviously, over time, the authorities of the DRC still came to the conclusion that they could not do without the support of Russian military specialists who brilliantly proved themselves in the fight against terrorism around the world.
- Séraphin Ekane is a Cameroonian political analyst who writes on a variety of topics. He writes here in his personal capacity
