300 South Sudan troops fly to east DR Congo

300 soldiers have been airlifted from Juba International Airport to Goma, in eastern DR Congo to join an East African force fighting rebel groups.

This comes a day after 40 soldiers from SSPDF were deployed to Goma, an area wracked by the insurgencies of dozens of rebels and militia groups.

The deployed troops are part of the 750 troops promised by South Sudan in December 2022.

The 300 soldiers were also flown to the volatile eastern Dr. Congo region on Monday morning – bringing the total of force South Sudan has contributed to around 1,000.

They were briefed in a ceremonial parade before boarding a Kenya Air Force cargo plane at Juba Airport.

The troops are joining a seven-nation regional force created last June to try to stabilize eastern DR Congo by supervising a withdrawal of M23 rebels.

Rwanda denies it backs the group which has seized large parts of North Kivu province, triggering a humanitarian crisis.