President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda have "confirmed" they will attend a joint summit between East African and Southern African regional blocs on Saturday, February 8.
The joint summit will be held in Tanzania's commercial city Dar es Salaam.
The joint summit of the East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) will be a two-day meeting, with the regional blocs' ministers convening on Friday, February 7 ahead of the heads of state's meeting the following day.
The two regional blocs settled on the dates and venue following an agreement between SADC chairperson Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the president of Zimbabwe, and EAC chairperson William Ruto, who is also the president of Kenya.
South Africa's Ramaphosa to attend
"President Samia Suluhu Hassan (of Tanzania) has graciously agreed to host the summit to deliberate on the situation in eastern DRC," President Ruto said on Monday.
Ruto added: "President Felix Tshisekedi of the DRC and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda have confirmed attendance of the meeting that will be preceded by a ministerial meeting on Friday before the heads of state convene on Saturday."
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud are some of the heads of state who have already confirmed their attendance of the extraordinary summit scheduled for Saturday.
The EAC has eight countries, which are DRC, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
Kagame attended EAC summit, Tshisekedi attended SADC meeting
SADC, on the other hand, has 16 countries, including Angola, Botswana, Comoros, DRC, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar and Malawi.
The others are Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mauritius.
In a recent EAC heads of state summit, President Kagame attended, while President Tshisekedi skipped.
A subsequent SADC summit was attended by President Tshisekedi.
Rwanda faces accusations of backing M23
DRC and the United Nations have repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting M23 armed group in the troubled eastern part of DRC, allegations Rwanda denies.
Recently, M23 armed group advanced into North Kivu's capital, Goma, and seized most parts of the strategic city located in eastern DRC.
On Friday, January 31, the United Nations said that in five days of clashes between the Congolese army and M23 armed group, more than 700 people lost their lives and 2,800 others injured in eastern DRC.
DRC's President Felix Tshisekedi vowed in a televised address on January 29 that his country's army would launch a "vigorous and coordinated response" against M23.
Attempts to enter into South Kivu blocked
M23's recent attempts to advance into South Kivu were stalled by the Congolese army, which, on Saturday, recaptured the South Kivu villages of Sanzi, Muganzo and Mukwidja from M23.
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