KIGALI, Rwanda 

South Africa will deploy 2,900 troops to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force to fight armed groups, the president’s office announced Monday.

The troops will be deployed until Dec.15, 2024 with a budget of around 2 billion rand ($105.6 million), according to a statement.

The deployment ordered by President Cyril Ramaphosa comes amid clashes between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province.

Last month, the Congolese military announced the start of a joint offensive with troops from the SADC in the east of the country, with a mandate mainly targeting the M23 rebels.

The SADC force, which also includes troops from Malawi and Tanzania, was deployed as the government in Kinshasa pushes UN peacekeepers who have been stationed in eastern DR Congo since 1999 to pull out of the country.

The 16-member state SADC approved the mission to eastern DR Congo in May last year.

Thousands of people in the two most conflict-affected eastern DR Congo provinces of North Kivu and Ituri live in camps, displaced by violence by multiple armed groups.