The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and supreme commander of the country's armed forces, Félix Tshisekedi, called for general mobilization in order to defeat the enemy and end the war in the east of the country. This was reported by government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, Minister of Communication and Media.'The President of the Republic reiterated his call for general mobilization in the face of aggression and the challenges to the peace and security of our country, a guarantee of our economic development,' said the minister quoted by the news site The Objective. It is therefore also up to the government […] to redouble its efforts at all levels so that together we succeed in defeating the enemy, and so that war is followed by lasting peace. »Referring to the extraordinary troika summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) body held on March 23 in Lusaka, Zambia, the spokesperson stressed that participants had 'passed review the situation prevailing in the theater of operations in North Kivu where SAMIRDC [SADC mission in the DRC] troops are engaged in support of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo.The March 23 Movement (M23) continues its offensive in North Kivu, contributing to an escalation in the east of the country. Bintou Keita, special representative of the UN Secretary General and head of the United Nations stabilization mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), recently called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops present on Congolese soil. Since the start of the current year, more than 200 civilians have been killed in North Kivu and Ituri following clashes between the Congolese armed forces and the M23 as well as following inter-ethnic conflicts. The withdrawal of the East African Community (EAC) military contingent allowed the M23 to take key positions near Sake and Goma, towns of strategic importance. The deployment of the SAMIRDC troop has only just begun.In February, MONUSCO announced the withdrawal of its troops from the country. The first stag e involved the handover of its military base in South Kivu, in the east of the country. The mission currently has nearly 15,000 peacekeepers who are deployed in the three most troubled provinces: South and North Kivu, as well as Ituri.Relations between the DRC and Rwanda have deteriorated following the rise of the M23 in the east of the country, with Kinshasa accusing Kigali of supporting the latter's fighters. Formed in 2012 by deserters from the Congolese armed forces, the M23 launched an offensive in eastern DRC in January 2021, before seizing several towns and villages in North Kivu. They are currently trying to approach the city of Goma, which has a population of 2 million.Source: Burkina Information Agency