President Ruto turns to prayer as he sends off KDF troops to Eastern DRC

The Head of State prayed for God's guidance on behalf of the Kenyan troops who will join the East African Community Regional Forces (EACRF) contingent.

The EACRF contingent will assist the DRC in its efforts to repel M23 rebels who have taken up critical positions in the mineral-rich North Kivu province.

"Before you are men and women from the Kenya Defence Forces... they are on a mission to protect humanity... to protect mothers and children and our brothers and sisters in DRC," President Ruto prayed.

"We pray for them as they go to execute this mandate, we pray that you go before them. Protect these men and women, give wisdom to their commanders, give them favour even as they work with other forces..."

Kenya's deployment comes as Burundi's President and EAC chairperson, Évariste Ndayishimiye, engages Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Kenya's Ruto, Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan, and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni in a last-ditch effort to ensure peace.

Kenyan troops are part of the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

The troops are expected to carry out MONUSCO's mandate to protect civilians, support stabilisation, and neutralize armed militias, as well as collaborate with other deployed militaries in the Eastern DRC.

Meanwhile, the DR Congo government announced on Saturday that it was expelling Kigali's envoy over what it claimed was Rwanda's support for M23 rebels making new inroads in the country's east.

Rwanda, which denies the accusation, expressed regret over the decision on Sunday, adding that its troops on the two countries' border were on "high alert."

The AU on Sunday urged all the parties to engage "in a constructive dialogue" to ensure peace in the troubled region, calling them to peace talks in Nairobi next month.

Angola's President Joao Lourenco said he would dispatch his Foreign Minister Tete Antonio to DR Congo to mediate the dispute.

But Kinshasa's announcement late Saturday suggests they have lost patience with regional mediation efforts.

In recent days "a massive arrival of elements of the Rwandan element to support the M23 terrorists" against DR Congo's troops had been observed, said government spokesman Patrick Muyaya.

Condemning what he described as a "criminal and terrorist" adventure, he announced the expulsion of Rwanda's envoy Vincent Karega.

Hours earlier, reports had come in that the M23 rebels had seized more territory in the vast mineral-rich DRC, prompting the UN peacekeeping mission to increase its "troop alert level" and boost support for the army.