SADC cans DRC mission

OFFICIAL DECISION: TROOPS TO WITHDRAW BUT NOT CLEAR WHEN OR HOW

- Masoka Dube & defenceWeb

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) peace mission has been aborted, but it is not clear when the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members will return home.

The decision to abort the DRC mission was communicated yesterday in a meeting in Zimbabwe, chaired by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and attended by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

According to a communique: "The summit terminated the mandate of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of the troops from the DRC."

It did not give details of the withdrawal or when the mission would be aborted.

SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini refused to comment about the troops' withdrawal and did not respond to questions about the R5 billion budget allocated to the DRC mission.

Military experts welcomed the termination of the mission.