Lul Ruai Koang, the spokesperson of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, told Xinhua on Sunday in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that all the forces that had been deployed in December 2022, as part of the East African Community Regional Force, have been withdrawn from the North Kivu region of the DRC.

The withdrawal of the South Sudanese troops came after the East African Community announced on Nov. 25 that the DRC would not renew the mandate of the regional force beyond Dec. 8.

Since November 2022, this regional force, consisting of Kenyan, Ugandan, Burundian and South Sudanese elements, has been stationed in the eastern part of the DRC in response to conflicts between the DRC military and the March 23 Movement rebels.