Goma, Oct 05: The last group of Rwandan soldiers left the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Saturday, an AFP correspondent in the border town of Goma reported.
The 1,000 men of the fifth battalion of the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) crossed the border by foot in a single file at a small border post separating Goma from the town of Cyangugu on the Rwandan side of the border.

The Rwandan troops posted across the border in DRC had earlier on Saurday assembled in Goma, preparing to cross the frontier home. Several thousand Goma residents applauded as the Rwandans departed.

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Rwanda sent troops into the DRC in August 1998 to back rebels seeking to oust the Kinshasa government and to fight Rwandan Hutu extremists who had fled into the neighbouring country after the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

With Russian-made military helicopters flying overhead, the soldiers sang as they marched along Goma's main streets before they went to the border post known as The Corniche.

The last solder crossed through the metal barrier separating the two countries at 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT), in the presence of representatives of the UN observer mission in DRC (MONUC) and other international observers. Bureau Report