Two South African Defence Force soldiers were killed and 20 others were injured after their military base in the Democratic Republic of Congo was hit by a mortar attack. Today's incident has increased the death toll of SANDF troops to five since the deployment of 2900 soldiers late last year.

In a statement, SANDF said the mortar attack happened on one of their bases in Sake, in the DRC. "Four members who were critically injured have been hospitalised, whilst the rest who suffered minor injuries are expected to be discharged soon. Families of the two members who lost their lives have been informed and all procedures to bring their mortal remains are in process. The names of the deceased will be communicated in due course," said the SANDF.

The SANDF troops that died were deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the United Nations, MONUSCO peacekeeping force, which has begun to pull out of the war-torn east of the country. Military Veterans Minister, Kobus Marais, said without proper air cover as well as transport and air elements, the SANDF troops will find it difficult to operate effectively in the eastern DRC, which is a complex and hostile terrain. "South Africa should not be shouldering a military responsibility that falls squarely with the African Union and the East African Community. We simply do not have that capacity and are definitely out of our depth fighting rebels in a terrain that we are not familiar with. There is a high chance that the M23 rebels, using their familiarity with the territory, will resort to tactical ambushes of the SANDF to inflict maximum harm on our troops," said Marais.