South Africa's military reinforces beleaguered Congo mission
Photo: Reuters
South Africa has sent additional troops and military equipment to Democratic Republic of Congo in recent days, political and diplomatic sources said, after 14 of its soldiers were killed in fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels last month, News.az reports citing Reuters.
The South African reinforcement comes amid fears that fighting in eastern Congo could spark a broader war in a powderkeg region that has over the past three decades witnessed genocide, cross-border conflicts and dozens of uprisings.
Flight data reviewed by Reuters showed transport aircraft flying from South Africa to Lubumbashi, in southern Congo. An airport employee there confirmed that military planes had landed last week.
"We have been informed of a (South African National Defence Force) troop build-up in the area of Lubumbashi. We gather that approximately 700-800 soldiers had been flown to Lubumbashi," Chris Hattingh, a South African lawmaker, wrote in a text message to Reuters.
Hattingh, the defence spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance, a member of the governing coalition, said it was "difficult to figure out what is exactly unfolding" because parliament's defence committee had not been briefed.
The SANDF spokesperson said on Friday he was not aware of the deployment to Lubumbashi and declined to comment further on Monday. A Congolese army spokesperson said he could not confirm or deny the deployment.
Lubumbashi is about 1,500 km (930 miles) south of Goma, the eastern city on Rwanda's border that the M23 rebels seized last month during an offensive that has killed over 2,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
South Africa is believed to have around 3,000 troops deployed in Congo, both as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission and a Southern African regional force tasked with helping Congo's army combat the M23 insurgency.
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