Kenya deployed troops on Wednesday to the Democratic Republic of Congo to battle the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels in the country’s troubled east in a joint operation by a regional bloc, President William Ruto announced.
The Kenyan soldiers will make up part of the East African Community (EAC) force, an assemblage of military units from the region that is helping the Congolese army’s efforts to quell the perennial violence in the region.
The EAC is a regional bloc of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and DR Congo.
Some Kenyan units previously arrived in the DR Congo in September to help install logistical support systems in preparations for planned operations against the M23 rebel group.