M23 rebels kill four S.African soldiers in DRC, taking toll to 13

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Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP

Four more South African soldiers have been killed in fighting against the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the defence force said Tuesday, after nine were killed last week.

Three soldiers were killed in fighting near Goma airport on Monday and another died after being wounded in an earlier battle, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said in a statement.

"The M23 rebels launched... a mortar bomb in the direction of Goma Airport, which landed in the SANDF base, and this resulted in the SANDF losing three members.

"Furthermore, the SANDF is also saddened to announce that one of our members who was injured during the battle with M23 rebels over the past three days later succumbed to injuries."

The SANDF announced on Saturday that nine South African soldiers, including two from the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO, were killed in clashes with M23 forces on Friday.

(AFP)

South Africa has also deployed troops to a regional force sent by the Southern African Development Community.

Fighting has raged in Goma despite calls from the international community for the Rwandan-backed M23 to halt its advance on the city which is in a mineral-rich part of the vast DRC and is home to more than a million people.

There were conflicting accounts over how much of Goma remained under Congolese control after the M23 group and Rwandan soldiers entered the city centre on Sunday night.

"The SANDF remains fully committed to its peacekeeping responsibilities under the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC)," its statement said.