Officials say nine South African and three Malawian peacekeepers have been killed by M23 rebels.
At least 12 peacekeepers have been killed in fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said, including two members of the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO.
Congolese troops and peacekeepers have been battling to halt the advance of M23 rebels on the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, in recent days.
The three-year-old M23 insurgency in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich east intensified in January as rebels seized more territory, prompting the United Nations to warn of the risk of a wider regional war. .
As of Friday, nine South African soldiers had been killed in clashes with M23 rebels, South Africa’s armed forces said in a statement on Saturday.
It said two South Africans deployed with the UN peacekeeping mission and seven others in the South African regional bloc force in the DRC were killed in two days of heavy fighting.
“The members fought a valiant battle to prevent the insurgents from advancing towards Goma as they intended,” he said, adding that the M23 had been pushed back.
A United Nations official confirmed the death of two UN soldiers while talking to the Associated Press.
The UN official told the agency on condition of anonymity that the peacekeepers were killed on Friday.
Malawi’s military spokesman confirmed that three of its peacekeepers deployed with the SADC mission had been killed in fighting with M23 rebels.
“We confirm the loss of three of our brave soldiers who were part of the SADC mission in the DRC,” said spokesman Emmanuel Malimba, referring to the Southern African Development Community’s SAMIDRC mission.
“These soldiers fell in the line of duty during an encounter with the M23 rebel group active in eastern DRC. As the situation is volatile, more details will be shared later.”
M23, or the March 23 Movement, is an armed group made up of ethnic Tutsis that broke away from the Congolese army more than 10 years ago. Since its reinstatement in 2022, M23 has continued to gain ground in eastern DRC.
The DRC and the United Nations have accused Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops and weapons – which Rwanda denies.
The United Nations should relocate non-essential staff
M23 has made significant territorial gains in recent weeks by encircling the eastern city of Goma, home to nearly two million people and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.
The United Nations said it would temporarily relocate non-essential staff, such as administrative staff, from Goma.
“Essential personnel remain on the ground, maintaining critical operations such as food distribution, medical assistance, shelter, and protection of vulnerable communities,” the UN statement said.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups trying to gain a foothold in mineral-rich eastern DRC along the border with Rwanda, in a decades-long conflict that has fueled the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.
Since 1998, about 6 million people have been killed, while about 7 million people have been internally displaced.
More than 237,000 people have been displaced by fighting in eastern Congo since the start of this year, the UN refugee agency said in a report on Monday.
On Thursday, M23 took control of the town of Sake, just 27 kilometers (16 miles) west of Goma and one of the last major routes into the provincial capital still under government control, UN Secretary According to General Antonio Guterres.
