The East African Community regional force began its withdrawal from the DRC after Kinshasa refused to renew its mandate (Alexis HUGUET/AFP)

The East African Community (EAC) regional force in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo began withdrawal on Sunday morning, following Kinshasa’s refusal to renew its mandate.

DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi is expelling the regional force along with peacekeepers of a United Nations mission in the country, after deeming them ineffective in fighting dozens of rebel groups.

The force spokesman told French news agency AFP, the first group of around 100 Kenyan soldiers from the regional force left from Goma airport bound for Nairobi, but the military source reportedly did not provide more detail on further withdrawals.

AFP also reported that its journalists saw the plane carrying the troops taking off shortly after 05:00 am (03:00 GMT).

The departing EACRF include combatants from Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan.

The regional bloc first deployed troops in the violence-plagued region in November last year after the resurgence of the M23 rebel group. This comes after DRC authorities called for military help to liberate the areas taken by the rebels.

But the future of the deployment was thrown into doubt after DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi accused the force of cohabiting with the rebels rather than forcing them to lay down arms.

Following a summit on 25 November, the EAC announced that the DRC “would not renew the mandate of the regional force beyond 8 December 2023”.

The UN stabilisation mission to the DRC, MONUSCO, has been present in the country since 1999, in addition to the EAC’s force.

But it has also been accused of ineffectiveness, with Kinshasa calling for its “accelerated” departure from January 2024.

In November 2023, Kinshasa and the UN’s Monusco peacekeeping mission signed withdrawal plan for the peacekeeping troops from the country, but the withdrawal timeline was not mentioned.

Also in November 2023, DRC signed an agreement on the status of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) force that will replace departing EAC Regional Force in the volatile east of the country.