The Southern African regional bloc has said it will conclude its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo having decided on a phased withdrawal. Leaders from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community - SADC – that has lost more than 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. In a statement released after the summit, the group said its mission in the DRC, also known as SAMIDRC, would be terminated and the leaders directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops. The bulk of SAMIDRC troops come from South Africa together with Tanzania and Malawi. The mission was sent to the eastern DRC in December 2023 to help the government restore peace and security amid attacks by armed groups including M23. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Ricardo Texeira, Defence Analyst at DefenceWeb