KINSHASA, DR Congo: Rebel attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have left at least 14 dead, including two South African soldiers, as violence escalated.
At least 12 people have been killed and 16 others kidnapped by rebels from the CODECO armed group in a gold mine near Djugu district in Ituri province, a civil society organization said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, South Africa said on Thursday that two of its soldiers had been killed by mortar fire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the first casualties since it deployed troops there.
“As a result of this indirect fire, the SANDF suffered two fatalities and three members sustained injuries. The injured have been taken to the nearest hospital in Goma for medical treatment,” the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) said.
Both attacks took place on Wednesday.
Violence in the conflict-hit region has been on the rise in recent weeks, with many attacks blamed on the M23 rebel group, which has been battling Congolese troops in the region for years.
Kinshasa says M23, one of more than 120 armed groups in the region, receives military support from neighboring Rwanda. Experts from the United Nations and the European Union have said there is evidence to support this, but Rwanda denies the allegations.
However, M23 has indicated in recent statements that it is in the middle of an onslaught in eastern Congo, leading to fears that the group is once again targeting Goma, which it once captured 10 years ago.
CODECO, an independent rebel group, is a loose association of militia groups mainly from the Lendu ethnic farming community. It has fought other rebel groups and is known to target gold and mineral-rich areas in the resource-rich country.
Military mission in South Africa
Efforts to curb violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) have led to the deployment of thousands of South African troops as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to fight armed rebel groups in the eastern region.
South Africa announced this week that it would send a new contingent of around 2,900 troops to eastern Congo. It was not immediately clear if those killed and wounded in Wednesday’s attack were part of this new deployment.
The base that was hit was in North Kivu province, SANDF spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said. The injured were taken to a hospital in the regional city of Goma.
According to humanitarian organizations, more than a million people have been displaced by the conflict since November. This is on top of the 6.9 million who have already fled their homes in one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.
On Thursday, the Norwegian Refugee Council said the recent advance by armed groups towards the key town of Sake, near Goma, “poses an immediate threat to the entire aid system” in eastern Congo.
“The isolation of Goma, home to more than 2 million people and hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals who have fled clashes with armed groups, would have catastrophic consequences for the region,” the NRC said.
