Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for the deployment of regional forces in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to bring peace to the volatile region, noting that open conflict in the region threatens to derail political efforts to restore order in the country. sprawling population of 90 million people.

In a statement, he explained that “the military leaders of the seven countries that make up the East African Community will meet on Sunday to complete the necessary preparations for the deployment of regional forces”, noting that “East African regional forces should be deployed immediately in the provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu” to bring stability to the region and restore peace.

More than 120 armed groups operate in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region mired in widespread violence for years. These armed groups include the March 23 Movement (M23), a Tutsi-dominated terrorist movement that briefly took control of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, in 2012 before being defeated in 2013. a joint operation between United Nations forces and the Congolese army.

Relations between the two countries have escalated since the arrival of large numbers of Rwandan Hutu accused of killing Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Tensions have eased since the inauguration of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in 2019, but have escalated again in recent weeks.