By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A South African soldier is among the four Southern African Development Community (SADC) soldiers who were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“This unfortunate incident happened after a hostile mortar round had fallen near the camp they were staying,” SADC confirmed in a statement released on Monday.
According to SADC, the South African soldier died while receiving treatment for health challenges at a hospital in Goma, DRC.
The soldiers were deployed under the auspices of SADC as part of a regional response to address the unstable and deteriorating security situation prevailing in the Eastern DRC.
“The SADC family expresses its heartfelt condolences to the beloved families and the Governments of the Republic of South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania on the irreplaceable loss of the deceased soldiers and, at the same time, wishes the three injured soldiers speedy recovery, “it said in a statement.
The SAMIDRC remains focused on carrying out its mandate as per the principle of collective self-defence and collective action outlined in the SADC Mutual Defence Pact.
Earlier thia year, two SANDF soldiers were killed in a mortar bomb attack at their base in the DRC.
And in February, two soldiers were injured when an Oryx helicopter came under fire while evacuating a casualty from Rwindi to Goma.