South Africa has sent more troops and military equipment to strengthen its beleaguered forces in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to Reuters.
This comes in the wake of the loss of 14 soldiers in clashes last month with Rwanda-backed rebels.
Reuters reports that the reinforcement “comes amid fear that fighting in eastern DRC could spark a broader war in a powder keg 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 SA to Lubumbashi in southern DRC.
In a text message, DA defence spokesperson Chris Hattingh told Reuters: “We have been informed of an [SA National Defence Force (SANDF)] troop build-up in the area of Lubumbashi. We gather that about 700-800 soldiers had been flown to Lubumbashi.”
Hattingh added that it was “difficult to figure out what is unfolding” because Parliament’s defence committee had not been briefed.
Reuters reports that the SANDF spokesperson said on Friday he was not aware of the deployment to Lubumbashi, and declined to comment further on Monday. A DRC army spokesperson said he could not confirm the deployment.
[Image: SA troops in Sake, near Goma, in 2014 MONUSCO Photos – Flickr: PT9A9948, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32477233]