The East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) should be more active in countering the M23 rebels to force them to lay down their arms, Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has said.
Tshisekedi's remarks came during his meeting in Kinshasa with his Burundian counterpart Evariste Ndiyishimiye, who also chairs the East African Community (EAC).
"We are asking the EACRF to be more active, like the Burundian contingent, because in some places we continue to observe laxity on the part of the other contingents, who authorize the collection of taxes by the M23, which is totally illegal and unacceptable," the DRC presidency said, adding that they ask EAC to "take its responsibilities to force the M23 to go to the cantonment and to demobilization."
For his part, the Burundian president said that the M23 forces "are still recalcitrant" and there is a need to join forces to ensure a ceasefire.
As the DRC government has repeatedly pointed out, M23 fighters have not withdrawn from the occupied territories, although they have not fought against the army for nearly six months.
Ndiyishimiye added that the future of the EAC mandate would be debated at the next summit of the bloc's heads of state.
The Burundian leader also noted that in addition to reaching defense agreements, he visited Kinshasa to strengthen cooperation ties.
In particular, the leaders agreed to accelerate the construction of a bridge connecting the province of Tsibitoke in Burundi with the province of South Kivu in the DRC. They also discussed the construction of a railroad linking Burundi and Tanzania and the establishment of Burundi-DRC bank branches.
Burundi's contingents along with forces from Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan are included in the EACRF deployed in eastern DR Congo last November. In May, East African leaders agreed to renew the mandate of the regional military force until September.
EAC operations in the country will be joined by those of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which in mid-August approved the deployment of troops in DRC to restore peace and security.
Regional assistance was required for the DRC due to the deteriorating security situation in the east of the country in the wake of the widespread anti-Government M23 ("March 23 Movement") rebel campaign.