Leaders and ministers from the southern African regional group SADC gathered in the Zimbabwe capital Friday ahead of a summit on the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has raised concerns for regional security.

The extraordinary session of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) was called after the Rwanda-backed armed group M23 captured most of the city of Goma in the DRC's mineral-rich east this week in an escalation of violence spanning decades.

Thirteen soldiers from South Africa and three from Malawi have been killed in the conflict since last Friday, most of them part of a SADC peacekeeping mission deployed to the area in 2023.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was due in Harare, but the leader of Malawi will be represented by his foreign minister, their offices said.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who heads SADC's defence grouping, arrived early Friday, as did the foreign minister of Angola, who will represent President Joao Lourenco.

Lourenco, the African Union-appointed mediator in the conflict, again urged Friday the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC to return to negotiations with a view to a summit in Luanda "as a matter of urgency".

Rwanda's president Paul Kagame refused to attend a meeting with his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi in Luanda mid-December.

Tshisekedi was absent from a crisis meeting with Kagame scheduled on Wednesday this week.

Rwanda is not part of the SADC, currently chaired by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, but the DRC is a member.

It was unclear if Tshisekedi would attend Friday's meeting, set to get under way around 2.30pm.

Rwanda has never admitted to military involvement in the conflict but alleges that the DRC supports and shelters the FDLR armed group, created by former Hutu leaders who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Kagame charged this week that the SADC deployment in the DRC was "not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation".

It is a "belligerent force" engaging in combat operations to help the DRC government and working alongside groups like the FDLR "which target Rwanda", he said.

The SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) was deployed to the eastern DRC in December 2023 to restore peace and security amid growing instability.

It is made up of around 2,900 troops from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania.

The summit will "explore ways to strengthen regional efforts in support of the DRC, to achieve lasting peace and security," the office of Botswana's President Duma Boko said in a statement confirming his attendance.

AFP

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