Following a lightning onslaught, the rebel forces of M23 movement allegedly backed by Rwanda took control of nearly the whole city of Goma, a vital hub for the trade of minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in late January 2025.

South African Development Community to Hold Extraordinary Summit Over Situation in DRC

09:15, 30 January 2025

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - On Monday, the chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, strongly condemned armed groups in the eastern DRC for recent attacks on UN and SADC peacekeeping missions.

Sputnik

The Southern African Development Community has said that it will hold an extraordinary summit at the leaders level on Thursday amid rising tensions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will convene an Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on 30th January 2025 in Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe, to discuss the security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo," the community said on X on Wednesday.

The summit will be chaired by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

"The Extraordinary Summit will be preceded by the meetings of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials and the SADC Council of Ministers," the post read.

DRC has been a member of the SADC since 1997.

After the failure of Angolan mediation efforts, the M23 anti-government armed group has resumed an offensive in the eastern DRC in recent weeks. The Congolese authorities accuse neighboring Rwanda of supporting the rebels and urge it to withdraw its troops from the country. Rwanda has denied all the accusations.