DRC CRISIS: South African troops hurt while travelling through Rwanda to return home By Plessis Carien, when being stranded at their bases in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for almost a month when Rwandan-backed M23 seized over Goma and Bukavu, the first group of injured South African soldiers is travelling home via Kigali.
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Unverified claims cited by DefenceWeb suggest that there may possibly be soldiers from Malawi and Tanzania among them. The soldiers were seen leaving Goma and crossing the Rwandan border in civilian clothes in videos that local journalists shared, and according to one source, they were also compelled to abandon their equipment. Between 30 and 300 people are reportedly being evacuated. A South African Sunday report According to journal Rapport, there were 189 South Africans wounded, including two pregnant troops. The estimated number of soldiers remaining stranded in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is between 1,000 and 2,000.
These were a part of the continuous, but fictitious, deployment of peace troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC). Defence Minister Angie Motshekga told The Africa Report a week prior that the defence force was getting ready to evacuate the wounded once a plan could be devised, but the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) did not immediately comment on the withdrawal of the injured. Done? Although it's unclear if a settlement was reached, there have apparently been heated discussions over the last two weeks between then United Nations mission in the DRC, Monusco, and the SAMIDRC. Under the Geneva Convention no such deal should be needed to evacuate the wounded from a conflict zone.
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The SADC and the East African Community at a special summit in Tanzania two weeks ago tasked military chiefs to find a solution. Rapport online media over the weekend reported that the wounded had been told to pack up on Friday already but by the evening they were told that they did not have permission from their M23 guards to leave the base.
Rwandan-based X account posted on the social media platform that SANDF soldiers would be returning home. The remains of the 14 troops who died when the M23 took Goma were returned to South Africa the previous week. With the UN Security Council adopting a resolution last week to that effect, Rwanda has been under a lot of pressure to cease supporting the M23 rebels. The Congo River Alliance spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston and Rwanda's Minister of State for Regional Integration James Kabarebe were also sanctioned by the US Department of State for being "drivers of violence" in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The restrictions were deemed "unjustified" by Rwanda. the previous week. With the UN Security Council adopting a resolution last week to that effect, Rwanda has been under a lot of pressure to cease supporting the M23 rebels. The Congo River Alliance spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston and Rwanda's Minister of State for Regional Integration James Kabarebe were also sanctioned by the US Department of State for being "drivers of violence" in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The restrictions were deemed "unjustified" by Rwanda.
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