{"id":52858,"date":"2025-02-06T00:22:41","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T00:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/malawian-president-orders-withdrawal-of-troops-from-drc\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T07:28:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T07:28:14","slug":"malawian-president-orders-withdrawal-of-troops-from-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/malawian-president-orders-withdrawal-of-troops-from-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"Malawian President orders withdrawal of troops from DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to an official statement, the decision follows a ceasefire declaration by the warring parties and aims to facilitate negotiations for a peaceful resolution.<\/p>\n<p>The M23 rebel group announced late Monday that it would implement a unilateral ceasefire starting Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p>However, on Wednesday, fighting resumed after the group came under attack from the Congolese army and its allies, leading to retaliation.<\/p>\n<p>Malawian troops have been part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), whose mandate was extended late last year. <\/p>\n<p>Reports indicate that various stakeholders had urged Chakwera to withdraw from the mission, arguing that continued involvement was not in Malawi\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n<p>Malawi recently lost three soldiers in the SAMIDRC mission during clashes in which M23 forces defeated the coalition and took control of Goma.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to withdraw also follows growing concerns from South African lawmakers, who questioned their country&#8217;s involvement in the DRC conflict after losing 14 soldiers in the battle for Goma. <\/p>\n<p>They have since called for the withdrawal of South African troops and the repatriation of deceased soldiers, though challenges remain as some troops are reportedly surrounded by M23 fighters.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-81175\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/00540457_1dac5063119658fede5179e577a14e26_arc614x376_w735_us1-c199e.jpg\" alt=\"Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has directed the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) to begin preparations for the withdrawal of Malawian troops from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has directed the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) to begin preparations for the withdrawal of Malawian troops from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000081174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-52858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default 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