South Africa is leading a regional deployment into the DR Congo’s eastern region to address a conflict displacing 7 million people. The operation, part of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community, faced unclear funding mechanisms. Troops from South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi were tasked with replacing a 25-year-old UN force and a recent EAC deployment, which failed to stabilize the mineral-rich area. France called on Rwanda to withdraw support for M23 rebels, accused by the DRC, the UN, and Western countries of attempting to control the region’s vast mineral resources. Rwanda denied these allegations.