Goma : the South African army announces the death of its two soldiers in Sake

The South African army confirmed on Wednesday the death of two soldiers deployed in the North Kivu province in eastern Congo as part of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) force. They bring to five the number of its soldiers killed on the Congolese soil since mid-December 2023.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The two elements of the SADC contingent died in a mortar attack which targeted one of the South African army bases, according to a press release.

The assault took place on Tuesday, June 25, according to the document.

“Two soldiers were killed, 20 others injured. Four soldiers who were seriously injured were hospitalized while the rest who suffered minor injuries are expected to be released from the hospital very soon,” the statement said.

The South African army announces that it has contacted the families of the two soldiers and indicates that procedures for the repatriation of the bodies are underway. Sake is a very strategic city in the territory of Masisi, located about twenty kilometers west of the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu. The FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), local militias maintained by the Congolese authorities and the SADC force are fighting against the M23 rebels in this area. Each adversary wants to keep it under its occupation. The South African army document does not accuse anyone.

Last May, at least 17 displaced people died in two explosions which targeted a camp in Goma.

Sake’s two deaths bring to five the number of South African soldiers killed in North Kivu in six months. South Africa deployed 2,900 soldiers in the SADC force in mid-December 2023. This force replaced the force of the East African community, considered “partisan” by some of the Congolese.
But like its predecessor, this mission is also struggling to dislodge M23 rebels. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the Sake attack which cost the lives of these elements of the South African army. The DRC is one of the 16 members of the Southern African Development Community. In the war against the M23, Congo is also supported by the FDNB (Burundi National Defense Force) which has deployed on the territory of the vast country of central Africa in a bilateral framework.

The M23 is a former Tutsi rebellion which took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing the Congolese government of not having respected its commitments on the reintegration of its fighters. Congolese authorities remain convinced that it benefits from support from Rwanda, which the Rwandan government continues to brush aside, charging the Congolese leaders to collaborate with the Rwandan genocidaires FDLR by providing them with uniforms, weapons and ammunition with the aim of “destabilizing the Rwandan territory”.

—————-

Archive photo : women flee Sake with their household effects, February 7, 2024