3 South African soldiers wounded in DR Congo

Three South African soldiers were wounded in an attack on Wednesday by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), authorities said on Thursday. The three soldiers were serving in the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) said. An armed group launched an attack on a UN base in the eastern part of DRC early Wednesday, prompting the UN mission to stage an counter attack, the SANDF said. Of the three South African soldiers wounded, one was in a serious condition and now recovering in a hospital in Goma, said SANDF spokesperson Jaco Theunissen. "An armed group of rebels attacked one of the South African army operating bases in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday (Wednesday) morning. The details of the attack are still unknown," Theunissen said. South Africa has more than 1,300 soldiers in the MONUSCO as part of the Force Intervention Brigade mandated by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2098. The South African government is facing pressure over sending peacekeeping soldiers abroad after 13 South African soldiers were killed and 27 others wounded while fighting with rebels outside Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR) in March last year. South Africa withdrew its troops from the CAR the following month.