Three soldiers serving on a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the Southern African Development Community (SADC), lost their lives while three others sustained injuries due to a hostile mortar round landing near their camp, as confirmed by SADC on Monday.
The SADC regional bloc had deployed its mission to Congo on December 15 of the preceding year to aid the government in addressing instability and combatting armed groups, particularly in the volatile eastern region, which has been plagued by violent conflicts spanning decades.
In a statement, the 16-member bloc described the incident as unfortunate, stating that it occurred following the impact of a hostile mortar round near the soldiers’ camp.
All casualties, both fatalities, and injuries, were reported to be from Tanzania. Contributions to the mission include soldiers from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania.
Furthermore, the statement mentioned the passing of another South African soldier who was receiving medical treatment for unspecified health issues at a hospital in Goma. However, it remains unclear whether this death was connected to the mortar round incident.
This incident follows a similar occurrence in February when two South African soldiers serving on the SADC mission were killed and three others wounded by a mortar bomb.
In a separate violent incident in Congo’s eastern region, the death toll among civilians from a militia attack over the weekend climbed to 25.
