All 178 lawmakers present in the 220-member parliament on Friday voted to deploy the military.

General Francisco Furtado, minister of state and head of the military section in the Angolan presidency, told local radio on Wednesday that Luanda will send between 450 to 500 soldiers for 12 months.

The deployment was first announced by the presidency on Saturday saying its main objective would be to "secure the areas where the members of the M23 are stationed and to protect" members of a team tasked with monitoring compliance with the ceasefire.

Angolan leader Joao Lourenco has played a key mediation role in the conflict, but the latest ceasefire he negotiated collapsed last week on the same day it was due to take effect.

Luanda said the deployment decision was taken after consultations with Kinshasa, adding other regional leaders as well as the United Nations had been informed.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi was expected in Luanda on Saturday.

M233 rebels have withdrawn this week from several villages in eastern DR Congo, officials in the region said on Thursday.

A recent lull in fighting came after the Tutsi-led rebel group advanced closer to Goma, threatening to cut off road links to the city of over one million people, on the border with Rwanda.

The M23, or March 23 Movement, is one of scores of armed groups that roam the volatile region.

In 2012, the Tutsi-led group briefly captured the provincial capital Goma before a joint Congolese-UN offensive drove it out.

But fighting erupted again in late 2021 after the M23 accused the Kinshasa of ignoring promises to integrate its fighters into the army.

The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the group, something that Kigali denies, and regional countries have deployed a joint force aimed at stabilising the region.

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