Operation Okapi Ends

After three months in the DRC, ROD forces are withdrawing from their bases in Kitona and Kisingani, having turned those medical and logistics facilities over to DRC personnel. A brief handover ceremony was held at Kitona base after a 30-day transition period during which DRC medical and security personnel shadowed and gradually assumed responsibility for the operation.

The bulk of the ROD support troops are returning to the ROD by way of Rio de Janiero, where they will have a 4-day pass. 1^st SHAM will return to its South American mission. Some ROD politicians have criticized Operation Okapi for tying the SHAM down in the DRC during other natural disasters, such as flooding and earthquakes. There is now broad support for the creation of a third SHAM, and some in the capital are even talking about a fourth.