Kenyan troops under the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) on Saturday, August 5, while on patrol in Kibumba, in Nyiragongo Territory, North Kivu Province attended to a woman in labour pains.
With medical facilities closed in the area, the Kenyan soldiers’ medical team conducted a successful delivery and stabilised the mother and baby before transferring them to Kinyaruchinya Health Centre in Goma for further management, the EACRF said.
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The EAC regional force was deployed in November 2022, with a mandate to support the peace process in the region, especially to secure the withdrawal of the M23 rebels.
The regional force occupies areas from which the M23 rebel group withdrew. With troops from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and South Sudan, the regional force has secured territories vacated by the M23 rebels.
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EACRF said with support from and other stakeholders the mission will "bring peace in North Kivu and enable the reopening of social and public amenities such as hospitals and schools among others.”
Eastern DR Congo is home to more than 130 foreign and local armed groups, which are responsible for atrocities. The region has remained volatile for nearly three decades.
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Multiple interventions, including the United Nations’ largest peacekeeping missions in the country (MONUSCO), have failed to end decades of violence in the country.