Two S.African troops die in DR Congo in shooting, suicide

Two more South African soldiers have died on their mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the army said Saturday, this time in an apparent murder and suicide.

"The incident occurred when one of them shot and killed the other with their service weapon before turning the weapon on themselves with fatal consequences," the South African National Defence Force said in a statement.

An investigation has been opened.

The SANDF statement said the troops that died were deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the United Nations MONUSCO peacekeeping force, which has begun to pull out of the war-torn east of the country.

Two of those troops were killed last month in a mortar strike, triggering complaints from South African opposition parties that they had been deployed without adequate air and logistics support.

Captain Simon Mkhulu Bobe and Lance Corporal Irven Thabang Semono were killed when a mortar landed inside one of the South African contingent's bases near the eastern city of Goma.

The deaths mark the first fatalities for South Africa since it began deploying 2,900 soldiers in eastern DR Congo in mid-December.

They were sent as part of a southern Africa regional force alongside soldiers from Tanzania and Malawi, tasked with helping DRC government forces fight M23 rebels.

UN peacekeepers pullout 

On Wednesday, the United Nations started pulling peacekeepers out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, moving to end a 25-year presence as conflict surges in the east of the long-troubled African state.

DR Congo demanded the withdrawal of the remaining 13,500 troops and 2,000 police in regions bordering Rwanda and Burundi despite international concerns over rampant violence.

At the Kamanyola base in South Kivu, the Pakistan peacekeepers were replaced by those of the DR Congo.

National police have taken charge and the UN representative in the country, Bintou Keita, said this would be the model for the withdrawal from all UN bases.