Three Tanzanian peacekeepers deployed to eastern Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission were killed by rebel mortar fire this week. Three others were wounded in the attack. Their deaths again raise questions about the capacity of the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as SAMIDRC, to neutralize the M23 rebel group in the country’s conflict-hit east. SAMIDRC is made up of forces from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania. They started deploying in December after DR Congo, one of SADC’s 16 members, sought support under the bloc’s mutual defense pact. The deaths of the Tanzanian soldiers are “very worrying,” international relations analyst Gilbert Khadiagala told DW, because it shows M23’s determination to continue their sweeping attacks across Congo’s eastern region.
SOURCE: DW
