The Southern African regional bloc has said it will conclude its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), having decided on a “phased withdrawal”. Leaders from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) – which has lost at least a dozen soldiers in the eastern DRC since January – held a virtual summit on Thursday to discuss the ongoing conflict in an area that has seen three decades of unrest.

African leaders have announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, who were sent to fight insurgents in mineral-rich eastern Congo, where M23 rebels have killed peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year.

The troops were sent two years ago to support the Congolese army fight the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, which has seized control of large parts of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo this year. At least 19 soldiers from South Africa,