SA troops in bloody skirmish
2005-03-03 07:21
Pretoria - A company from 12 SA Infantry Battalion (12 SAI) based in Potchefstroom was caught up in one of the bloodiest skirmishes to date in the Democratic Republic of Congo between militias and peacekeeping troops.
The South Africans were with Pakistani and Nepalese soldiers on a clean-up mission this week after nine Bangladeshi soldiers were killed last Friday.
The United Nations has accused the militia of war crimes in the Friday attack, saying the Bangladeshis' bodies were chopped up and their eyes gouged out.
Some were shot at close range after being led into the ambush.
A top Monuc officer said in Kinshasa: "After committing war crimes against our soldiers when they finished off
wounded ones, they committed crimes against humanity by
using civilians as human shields."
In the latest incident, between 50 and 60 militia members were killed when peacekeeping troops attacked them from armoured cars and three helicopters using mortars and machine guns.
Injured Pakistanis flown to SA
Two Pakistani soldiers had shrapnel injuries to the eyes.
They were flown to 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday night.
The confrontation took place in the town of Loga, about 30km northeast of Bunia in the east of the DRC.
The skirmish was sparked when the soldiers began cordoning off the town in their hunt for weapons belonging to militiamen.
Heaps of weapons were found and weapons storage facilities were destroyed by peacekeeping troops.
They were retreating when militias regrouped and again opened fire on them.
A mortar and machinegun response helped push militias back. No South Africans were injured.