Juba (AFP) - South Sudan will send 750 soldiers to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to join a regional force engaged in countering a rebel attack, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

For months, fierce battles have been taking place between the Congolese forces and the rebel "M23" faction, prompting the "East African Group" to deploy a joint force to curb the violence, and Kenya and Uganda have sent troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

During a military graduation ceremony in the capital, Juba, General Lul Ruai Koang, speaking on behalf of the South Sudan People's Defense Forces, said that the South Sudanese soldiers "will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as soon as possible."

He explained that the battalion, which includes 750 soldiers, has been undergoing training for more than six months, in preparation for its deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At the military graduation ceremony held in Juba, President Salva Kiir instructed the military to "maintain order" and urged them to "protect civilians and their property from any harm."

The military graduation ceremony was held about four months after thousands of fighters, including former rebels loyal to Kiir and others loyal to his opponent, Vice President Riek Machar, were absorbed into the South Sudanese army, in implementation of a basic clause stipulated in the peace agreement that put an end to a brutal civil war.

In the conflict (2013-2018), about 400,000 people died.

On Wednesday, Kiir said, "You are one army," and you are "going as soldiers to southern Sudan."

The renewed fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fueled regional tensions, as Kinshasa accuses its neighbor Rwanda of supporting the "M23" faction, a conclusion supported by UN experts, the United States, France and Belgium, and Kigali denies its validity.

The "M23" is a former Tutsi rebellion movement that was defeated in 2013, and returned to take up arms at the end of 2021 and took control of areas throughout North Kivu province and advanced towards Goma, the main city in the province.

Last week, M23 handed over the strategic town of Kibumba to a regional military force, following major international pressure, describing the matter as a "goodwill initiative taken in the name of peace."

But the Congolese army described the withdrawal as a "sham" and said it was aimed at strengthening the movement's positions elsewhere.

The "East African Group" force is scheduled to include soldiers from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan, but its actual number is not yet clear.
Kenyan soldiers arrived in the country on November 12, and the Ugandan army later announced that it planned to deploy 1,000 soldiers at the end of November.