Kenya’s president said Wednesday that his country is sending more than 900 military personnel to eastern Congo to join a new regional force tasked with trying to calm deadly tensions fueled by armed groups.
Kenyan President William Ruto called the mission “necessary and urgent” for regional security, and said he and Congo’s president had agreed on how Kenyan forces would work with Congolese and other forces on disarming rebels and peacekeeping.
The Kenyan forces will be based in Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city. The East African Community regional force, agreed upon by heads of state in June and led by a Kenyan commander, also has two battalions from Uganda, two from Burundi and one from South Sudan.
Late Tuesday, angry crowds set fire to United Nations vehicles in Goma as frustrations mount over the advance of M23 rebels and the deteriorating security situation in the country’s east.
Violence by armed
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