JOHANNESBURG – TWO South African soldiers were killed and three others injured on Tuesday in a mortar attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) said on Wednesday.
The South African servicemen are in the DRC as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative to maintain peace in the country.
Headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana, the SADC is an intergovernmental organization comprising 16 member states. “The SANDF confirms that at about 13:30 on Feb. 14, 2024, a mortar bomb landed inside one of South Africa’s contingency military bases, inflicting casualties and injuries to the SANDF soldiers.
As a result of indirect fire, the SANDF suffered two fatalities and three members sustained injuries,” the SANDF said in a statement.
“Details of this incident are still sketchy at the moment, and further investigations will be conducted to determine the basis of this incident.”
The SANDF said the injured soldiers were taken to the nearest hospital in Goma, the capital of the DRC’s eastern province of North Kivu, for treatment.
South African Minister of Defense and Military Veterans Thandi Modise has sent condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed 2,900 soldiers to the DRC from December 2023 to December 2024.
– Xinhua News