Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

President Félix Tshisekedi did not attend the recent EAC summit hosted by President William Ruto to discuss the worsening security crisis in eastern DRC.

A Uruguayan soldier who was part of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) also died in the battle with M23 rebel fighters. Chief of SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya said the M23 fighters are allegedly trained and backed by the Republic of Rwanda, a neighbour of the DRC.

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

This introduction lays a foundation for the discussion of the East African Community and the battle for the soul of the DR Congo. However, it may be necessary to note that the Congolese hold very strong views that some countries in the East African Community are responsible for the armed rebellion in the eastern part of their country.

The conflict comes amid rising global tensions after Donald Trump’s election, especially between Washington and Beijing, over control of strategic minerals like those present in the Congo.

Kagame's comments clearly suggested that he wants South Africa to back off from DR Congo, where its military involvement dates back to the late 1990s. It first joined the UN's peacekeeping mission, Monusco, following the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a rare infection most commonly found in parts of central and east Africa. The seventh confirmed UK case was recorded in a person who had recently travelled to Uganda.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will hold an extraordinary summit in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, on Thursday

A potential Ebola outbreak has been reported in the DRC, at a time when the Trump administration has paused communication with the WHO.

Economic rivalry and ethnic tensions lay at the center of the long-simmering conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the strategically located city of Goma has recently fallen to r