HARARE, Zimbabwe, Nov 21, (AP): Southern African leaders resolved Wednesday to extend for another year the presence of regional troops deployed to fight rebels in conflict-torn eastern Congo, and also pledged to work toward peace in Mozambique, where disputed elections stoked unrest. The leaders were meeting in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, for an extraordinary summit under the umbrella of the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, a bloc of 16 countries that includes the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regional powerhouse South Africa committed close to 3,000 troops for the SADC mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which were deployed last December. Just over 2,000 more are from Tanzania and Malawi. The mission is part of a myriad of forces operating in the mineral-rich region plagued by decades of armed violence.

They include Congolese government soldiers, foreign mercenaries, a United Nations peacekeeping force and more than 100 groups that are fighting for power, land and valuable mineral resources. Others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings and ethnic cleansing.

Neighboring Rwanda has rejected charges, including by the Congolese government and U.N experts, that it backs M23, the main rebel group operating in eastern Congo, now one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced. The UN peacekeepers were meant to leave Congo next month, but soaring violence in the east by Rwanda-backed rebels has meant they are staying, with the country’s communication minister, Patrick Muyaya, stating there would be a new timeline for the force’s departure, although he didn’t give details.