Johannesburg - A South African peacekeeping soldier was killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo when an Oryx helicopter came under fire in Goma on Sunday, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has confirmed.
Spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said a crew member was shot dead. Another was injured but managed to land the helicopter safely at Goma Airport.
Eastern DRC is home to multiple armed groups, including the rebel M23 force, that have been fighting a campaign against government troops in recent months. Government troops are supported by the UN mission, known by its French acronym Monusco, as part of its protection-of-civilians mandate.
“The SANDF is in the process of informing family members of the soldiers who were involved in this unfortunate incident,” said Dlamini.
He said further details of the incident would be communicated in due course.
Dlamini said Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, Defence and Military Veterans Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla, Acting Secretary for Defence Dr Thobekile Gamed and SANDF Chief General Rudzani Maphwanya had expressed their condolences to the family of the deceased and wished the wounded soldier a speedy recovery.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned the attack.
The UN said there is no indication of who was responsible or the type of weapon used in the assault.
According to the UN, hundreds of civilians have been killed at the hands of armed groups, including women and children.
Last March, eight peacekeepers were killed when their helicopter crashed in an area of North Kivu province where the Congolese army was engaged in heavy fighting with the M23.
At a summit of the East African Community on Saturday in Burundi, regional leaders renewed their call for an immediate ceasefire by combatants involved in the eastern DRC.
Kinshasa has accused the Rwandan government of supporting the M23 rebels, a charge categorically denied by authorities in Kigali.
The UN said the M23 had seized many areas of North Kivu province in eastern DRC since last October, threatening to advance on the provincial capital.
Guterres recalled that such attacks against peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime under international law”.
He asked Congolese authorities to investigate and bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible.
“The secretary-general reaffirms that the United Nations, through his Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will continue to support the Congolese Government and people in their efforts to bring about peace and stability in the east of the country,” Guterres said.
The Star