Southern African leaders have said they want to provide immediate support to the Democratic Republic of Congo's army in its fight against rebel forces. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said it would deploy military experts now, and may send a peacekeeping force later. The army has failed to contain recent advances by rebels loyal to renegade General Laurant Nkunda. An estimated 250,000 people have been forced to flee from the fighting. Gen Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels, who fled to DR Congo after the 1994 genocide. In the most recent clashes, his forces have battled with pro-government militia around Goma, the capital of DR Congo's North Kivu province. At a summit in South Africa, SADC said military experts and advisors would be sent immediately to assess the situation in eastern DR Congo and "advise" the Congolese army. The group added in a communique that it would not "stand by and witness incessant and destructive acts of violence by any armed groups against innocent people of DRC. "If and when necessary SADC will, within the Nairobi framework, send [a] peacekeeping force into Kivu Province of the DRC," the group said. The BBC's Said Penda reports from South Africa that any such force would be deployed in support of Congolese government troops. SADC head Tomaz Salomao denied reports that Angolan soldiers were already in DR Congo, but said they could be there shortly. "If required, they will be on the ground soon, subject to the assessment and the report made by the military experts," he said. Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe supported DR Congo with troops during the 1998-2003 war. On Sunday, SADC also backed an earlier call by African leaders for an immediate ceasefire, for the mandate of UN peacekeepers to be bolstered, and for the opening of humanitarian corridors. The UN has 17,000 peacekeepers in DR Congo, making Monuc its largest mission in the world. But only a few hundred peacekeepers are in the areas affected by the latest violence, and human rights groups have also criticised the UN - whose peacekeepers have been trying to help the army stop rebel advances - for failing to prevent the killings. The UN has accused both sides of war crimes, following the reported killing of several civilians in the eastern town of Kiwanja last week. Meanwhile, aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said an outbreak of cholera is threatening tens of thousands of displaced people. The group says it has seen more than 45 cases around Goma and the number could rise. Source: BBC