Group of SANDF troops due to arrive home from DRC
The first group of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops deployed to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission there are expected to return on Friday.
They are arriving at air force base Bloemspruit in Bloemfontein at about midday and will be welcomed by minister of defence and military veterans Angie Motshega, accompanied by members of the military command council.
The mission was sent to assist Kinshasa's fight against rebel groups in the DRC's war-ravaged eastern borderlands in December 2023.
The 16-member Southern African Development Community (Sadc) said in mid-March it had terminated the mandate and would begin a phased withdrawal of its force from the DRC.
According to the SANDF, the withdrawal was informed by the directive issued by the Sadc extraordinary summit of heads of state and government meeting held virtually on March 13.
The bodies of 14 SANDF troops killed when M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, were returned to SA in February.
Earlier this year scores of SANDF soldiers were wounded in clashes between M23 rebel forces and DRC government troops.
About 200 soldiers returned in February from the DRC.
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