Tanzanian soldiers killed in DR Congo missile attack

Three soldiers from a southern African military force have been killed in a mortar attack in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

All three soldiers were from Tanzania. Three others were hurt. 

“Hostile” missile fire “fell near the camp where they were staying,” said the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) on Monday.

The soldiers’ names have not yet been released, nor have any details about where or when the attack took place. 

Sadc has also failed to say who was responsible for the attack. 

The Southern African regional force was invited in by the Congolese government last year to halt worsening insecurity linked to numerous rebel groups vying for control of territory and eastern DR Congo’s rich mineral resources.

Thousands of people have fled the rising violence in parts of eastern DR Congo in recent months, with many taking shelter in the region’s main city of Goma. 

Pressure has grown on the DR Congo government after it ordered the large UN peacekeeping mission to leave the country by the end of 2024.