A UN truck containing the bodies of fallen SAMIRDC soldiers and buses transporting the injured at the Rubavu One Stop Border Post. Photos/Kigali Today.
It was a somber mood in Rubavu district on Friday as bodies of soldiers serving under the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIRDC), killed during the fighting in Goma, were repatriated back to their countries for a decent burial.
The repatriated bodies which were transported by the United Nations Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), arrived at the Rubavu border on Friday afternoon, in a refrigerated truck, escorted by a bus carrying wounded soldiers, who are also going back to their respective countries to recuperate.
The M23, which is currently controlling the city of Goma, in Eastern DRC, allowed the passage of the bodies, which were received by security organs on the Rwandan side, and facilitated their cross over to Uganda, via Cyanika border, from where they will continue their long journey back home.
LIVE – From Rubavu-Goma border, convoy repatriating bodies of South African soldiers killed in eastern DR Congo, starts a long journey as they head home. South Africa has declared national mourning https://t.co/b44dRzvtVB
— KT Press Rwanda (@ktpressrwanda) February 7, 2025
The bodies include 14 South African soldiers, two Malawians and two Tanzanians. The soldiers were killed in the crossfire, following the intense battle to capture Goma last week.
The bodies arrived at the Rubavu border at 12pm before security officials did the necessary checks, before allowing the convoy to continue to Uganda, from where the deceased soldiers will be transported to their respective countries.
Appearing in Parliament earlier this week, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) chief, Gen. Rudzwani Maphwanya, said that the slain soldiers were not killed by Rwandan forces and neither were they intentionally targeted by M23.
Bags of the deceased soldiers and those returning home for treatment at the border.
Gen. Maphwanya said those who died were also not killed in the direct line of fire, adding that they were caught in the fight as Rwanda fired back in self-defence after Congolese government forces FARDC fired over the Rwandan border, killing at least 16 people in the western district of Rubavu.
“The fire was coming over our base. So you are between the forces that are firing and those that are being fired at, that’s what I meant when I said we found ourselves between the fire of the FARDC – which is the DRC forces,” he said.
South Africa has found itself at the centre of the conflict, which pits the M23/ARC group against the government forces, which have allied with militia groups under the name ‘Wazalendo’, including the FDLR militia.
A joint summit bringing together the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) is expected to commence today and continues Saturday with the Heads of State Summit, with the aim of finding a solution to the escalating conflict.
