The South African military and the United Nations are trying to determine if the shooting of a South African soldier in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was related to a recent coup attempt in that country.
South African National Defence Force spokesperson Colonel Kwena Mangope said the soldier was shot at about 11pm on Monday near Adikivu Base in Bukavu, on the DRC’s eastern border.
It was not clear if the soldier was on duty at the time.
”Information is very sketchy as we have to do everything through the UN commander,” said Mangope.
The soldier, whose name was not released as his family have not been notified, was deployed in the DRC as part of a UN peacekeeping mission to the country.
He said the UN was investigating the incident and would inform Pretoria of any developments.
”We were only notified on Tuesday afternoon,” said Mangope.
Twenty-seven UN staff have died during peacekeeping missions in the DRC since November 1999. Most of them were killed in vehicle accidents or died of illness. — Sapa