South African soldiers are caught between M23 rebels and government forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Fighting erupted anew in the war-torn east of the DRC on Sunday and continued yesterday after about 100 armed men disguised in women’s clothing entered the country from Rwanda, said local sources.
Soldiers of 6 SA Infantry Battalion have been deployed in the DRC in a United Nations “intervention brigade”.
The intervention brigade consists of 2069 soldiers, of whom 850 are South African, and falls under the authority of the UN’s broader 19000-strong Monusco peacekeeping mission in the Congo.
Unlike the peacekeeping force, the brigade, which also has Tanzanian and Malawian contingents, has been mandated to engage any group that tries to destabilise the region.
Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Prosper Basse, a spokesman for the Monusco force, said yesterday that the South Africans were ”in the middle” of the fierce fighting around Goma, the provincial capital.
“The [Monusco] operational base in Monigi has always been a South African base. It is on a hill dominating Goma,” said Basse.
The South African troops have been involved in two other clashes in the past week, sparked when another rebel group, the Mai Mai, attacked a nearby M23 base.
“The M23 repelled the attack and the Mai Mai turned and started to shoot at civilians and the blue helmets [UN soldiers] to intimidate them. The blue helmets fired warning shots but when they kept on coming we engaged them,” said Basse.
One rebel was killed in the fighting and two others were wounded.
Heavy calibre weapons were used, including multiple-rocket launchers, mortars and artillery. DRC government forces have been involved in heavy fighting against the M23 rebels since Sunday.
SA Defence Ministry spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said the fighting was taking place in the areas where the South African troops are deployed.
“We are not involved,” he said.
The South African base was formerly held by M23 rebels but was taken by Monusco after the two M23 factions started fighting each other, leaving a gap for the UN force to move in. – Sapa-AP, AFP