Burundi 1st to send soldiers for regional force in Congo

By ELOGE WILLY KANEZA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Soldiers from Burundi have deployed to troubled eastern Congo as the first part of a recently created East African regional force to respond to crises. “As you have seen, our soldiers have been received officially. The spokesman for Burundi’s army told The Associated Press they are in Congo on an official mission. He said a battalion had been sent. The deployment was confirmed by a Congolese army spokesman who said the mandate is to track down “all foreign and local armed groups in order to restore peace” in the mineral-rich region bordering Rwanda and Uganda where dozens of rebel groups operate.