Three Tanzanian soldiers killed: A mortar attack near a Tanzanian camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) killed three troops and wounded three more, according to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) report from Monday.
In December of last year, government troops in the volatile eastern area of the DRC were aided by a Southern African peacekeeping mission that included these soldiers. The battle between government troops and M23 rebels continues to this day.
Important regional military powers are represented by the South African, Tanzanian, and Malawian forces that make up the peacekeeping mission.
Reportedly, the mortar attack took place last Thursday, and on Monday, a ceremony was held at the SADC headquarters in Goma, the capital of the province, to honor the deceased soldiers.
An unnamed South African soldier died in a hospital while receiving treatment for unidentified health problems, according to SADC.
This latest event is the first time the peacekeeping force has suffered fatalities since two South African soldiers were killed in a mortar attack at a camp some 20 kilometers from Goma in mid-February.
According to an anonymous Congolese security source, the same camp where the earlier attack took place was also the site of the deaths of the Tanzanian soldiers.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations (UN), and Western countries have all accused Rwanda of backing rebels in their quest to acquire control of the region’s rich natural riches. Rwanda has always refuted these claims.
Nearly thirty years of bloodshed in the eastern area of the DRC have been caused by armed groups from both inside and outside the region. The largely Tutsi M23 militia, which had been largely dormant since late 2021, restarted hostilities in late 2022 and has subsequently captured large swaths of North Kivu province.
