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by IANS |
Johannesburg, Jan 29 (IANS) Four more soldiers of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) were killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing the death toll of SANDF peacekeepers to 13 since last week, South Africa's Department of Defense (DoD) confirmed.
"Following an exchange of mortar bombs between the FARDC (Congolese Defense Force) and the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebel militia on Monday, January 27, 2025, near Goma Airport where the SANDF base is collocated, three members of the SANDF were caught in the crossfire and were killed," said the department in a statement.
It elaborated that M23 rebels launched several mortar bombs in the direction of Goma Airport, which landed in the SANDF base and resulted in the deaths, Xinhua news agency reported.
A fourth peacekeeper died after succumbing to injuries sustained in the battles over the past three days, according to the statement. Other injured SANDF members continued to receive medical attention at a hospital in Goma, the capital of the DRC's eastern province of North Kivu.
This was after nine South African soldiers had been killed by Friday after two days of fierce fighting, according to an earlier statement issued by the DoD on Saturday.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday evening spoke to his Rwandan counterpart about the escalating violence in the eastern DRC.
The SANDF soldiers are part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), deployed to support and assist the government of Africa's second-largest country to restore peace, security, and stability.
"The SANDF remains fully committed to its peacekeeping responsibilities under the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and SAMIDRC," said the defence department in the Tuesday statement.
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