The South Africa National Defence Force has reported the deaths of two of their soldiers, and injury of three more, in a mortar attack upon one of their military bases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The soldiers were deployed as a part of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) intervention force in the DRC.
The SA National DefenceForce Media Statement || Thursday, 15 February 2024 || The SA National DefenceForce soldiers deployed in the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were injured during an indirect fire.#SANDF#JointOperationsDivision#RIPSASoldiers#DRC pic.twitter.com/cIoxX2E5sw
— SA National Defence Force (@SANDF_ZA) February 15, 2024
Their statement does not say who was responsible for the attack, however it does state that the injured soldiers were evacuated to a hospital in Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province, to receive treatment. The DRC’s M23 rebels have recently been operating approximately 25km from Goma, and are a potential culprit for the attack.
The two killed mark the very first publicly announced fatalities of the SADC’s deployment since they began military operations in the DRC last month, on January 16th.
