Burundi joins SADC forces as US tells M23 to withdraw

Burundi has officially joined the Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces fighting against the M23 rebels in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a move that could escalate the conflict into a regional one.

The development was communicated following a meeting between presidents Felix Tshesikedi (DRC), Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi) and Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa) yesterday.
Mr Tshesikedi said Burundi will coordinate with South Africa on the ground operations against M23 rebels.

“On this subject, the three Heads of State discussed the best coordination of operations on the ground. South Africa and Burundi are among the troop-contributing countries of the SAMIDRC,” the DRC presidency said in a statement.

Burundi is not a member of SADC but is part of the East Africa Community and its troops were deployed in Eastern DRC under the East African Community Regional Forces before they were withdrawn in December last year.
It is also a neighbour of Rwanda, which is accused of backing the Tutsi-dominated M23 rebels that are fighting in the Eastern DRC.

President Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda President Paul Kagame of backing Red Tabara, a Burundian rebel group, which killed a dozen civilians in a raid on a border village. Red Tabara operates in the Eastern DRC and Rwanda. Burundi has since closed its borders with Rwanda.
President Kagame’s leadership also accuses Burundi of supporting rebels who have severally attacked Rwanda’s southern regions and killed civilians there.
The escalation of the tensions in Eastern DRC is threatening to drag the region into another regional conflict.
Tanzania, South Africa, and Malawi under SADC are supporting Congolese forces and United Nations forces to fight M23 rebels.
So far, the Congolese alliance, using drone strikes and heavy artillery, has prevented M23 rebels from capturing Sake, a key town, which is a gateway to Goma City, the capital of North Kivu Province.

The weekend meeting came as the United States asked the M23 rebels to withdraw from Sake neighbourhoods and stop besieging Goma City.
“This escalation has increased the risk to millions of people already exposed to human rights abuses including displacement, deprivation, and attacks.  We call on M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from its current positions around Sake and Goma and in accordance with the Luanda and Nairobi processes,”  Mr Matthew Miller, the spokesperson of the US State Department, said in a statement yesterday.

Mr Miller said Rwandan troops are operating in DRC and added that Rwanda should respect the territorial integrity of the DRC.
“The United States condemns Rwanda’s support for the M23 armed group and calls on Rwanda to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defence Force personnel from the DRC and remove its surface-to-air missile systems, which threaten the lives of civilians, UN and other regional peacekeepers, humanitarian actors, and commercial flights in eastern DRC,” he said.

On Saturday, the DRC government accused the Rwandan military of using drones to bomb their fighter jets and commercial planes on the apron at Goma International Airport.

Goma airport is the main operations and logistic centre for UN, SADC and Congolese forces’ aircraft to strike M23 rebels.  
Congolese military spokesman in Goma City said their Sukhoi-25 jet and commercial planes on the airport apron were damaged by the drone strike.

Counter accusations
The US also accused the DRC of supporting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group that Rwanda lists as a terrorist group.
Mr Miller said the parties in the conflict should negotiate to support the suffering of the people in the region.

“We continue to support regional diplomatic efforts that promote de-escalation and create the conditions for lasting peace in DRC and we call on all sides to participate constructively in reaching a negotiated solution,” he said.
In a meeting attended by SADC and EAC member states at the African Union headquarters on Friday, President Tshesikedi said he ruled out negotiations with M23 rebels as his Rwanda counterpart President Kagame had proposed.

Current status
The latest clashes have pushed tens of thousands of civilians to flee towards Goma, which stands between Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border and is practically cut off from the country’s interior. DRC, the United Nations and Western countries say Rwanda is supporting the rebels in a bid to control vast mineral resources, an allegation Kigali denies.