In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a coalition led by the government is battling the M23 rebel organization, at least two Romanian citizens were killed and four injured in combat.
Romanian media said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Romania verified their passing.
Romania Journal said that the former Romanian soldiers were paid $5,000 per month as mercenaries. Twenty Romanians were present at the alleged ambush site on February 7 in Sake, a town in the eastern De According to the journal, hundreds of Romanians traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2022 to provide military training to the nation’s army against the M23 rebels. There may be as many as 2,000 eastern European mercenaries, according to reports.
They are a component of an alliance of the military forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which also include troops from Burundi, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and militants from the FDLR. International law forbids the use of mercenaries in armed conflicts, and the Congolese government has come under fire for doing so. For almost 30 years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has remained unstable. Over 130 armed groups are based in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri; they are charged with crimes against humanity and human rights violations. Decades of insecurity have not been ended despite several regional and international efforts.
Reports state that on February 14, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where its contingent is stationed to combat rebels, the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) lost two of its soldiers to death and three more to injuries.
The biggest opposition party in his nation objected to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to send 2,900 soldiers to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 12. According to Ramaphosa’s administration, the deployment will satisfy his nation’s “international obligation” to the regional force of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the unstable eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
