South Africa has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting its troops stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where at least 13 soldiers have lost their lives in clashes with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson, Siphiwe Dlamini, confirmed that the M23 rebels have been advancing, taking over villages and towns over the past month. The conflict reached South Africa’s operational base in Sake, prompting a fierce response from its forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our base came under attack, we responded and successfully pushed them back,\u201d Dlamini stated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Dlamini, 10 soldiers were killed during the defense of the Sake base, while three others died on Monday during clashes between the M23 rebels and Congolese forces, when mortars struck the base.<\/p>\n
Efforts are underway to repatriate the bodies of the fallen soldiers, although Dlamini cautioned that the volatile situation in Goma could delay the process.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The government has yet to decide whether additional troops will be sent as reinforcements. \u201cProviding more support to avoid further loss of life is a priority,\u201d Dlamini said, adding that securing supply routes remains a critical focus.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The matter of deploying reinforcements is expected to be discussed during the Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Thursday.<\/p>\n
South African troops are part of the SADC’s regional peacekeeping force, tasked with stabilizing the conflict-ridden eastern DRC.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasized the importance of the mission, describing it as a \u201ccritical effort\u201d to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region. Despite the escalating clashes, Dlamini reiterated that the South African mission remains a peacekeeping operation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africa has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting its troops stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where at least 13 soldiers have lost their lives in clashes with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson, Siphiwe Dlamini, confirmed that the M23 rebels have been advancing, taking over villages<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[353],"tags":[285,369,266],"class_list":{"0":"post-10395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-war","8":"tag-amnewsworld","9":"tag-kinshasa","10":"tag-reporters"},"yoast_head":"\n