Two South African soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded in eastern DR Congo, where the South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF) is fighting alongside the Congolese army in the war with M23 rebel group.

The soldiers were killed in a mortar attack on an SANDF based in Sake, a key town in North Kivu province, on Tuesday, June 25, the South African military said in a statement.

"Four members who were critically injured have been hospitalized, whilst the rest who suffered minor injuries are expected to be discharged soon," the statement reads in part.

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The statement comes barely one month after the SANDF mourned one soldier who was killed on May 31 during combat in Sake.

South African soldiers are part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional force fighting alongside the Congolese army coalition.

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The coalition also includes Burundian forces, and militias such as the FDLR, a terrorist group linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, as well as youth groups known as Wazalendo.

At least seven SANDF soldiers have been killed in the eastern DR Congo conflict since the SADC deployment in December 2023.

In December 2023, South Africa deployed 2,900 soldiers as part of the SADC force sent to DR Congo’s conflict-hit region to fight the M23 rebels.

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South African opposition parties criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for approving the deployment of troops to the conflict-ridden eastern DR Congo, saying the SANDF had no capacity to fight the M23 rebels.

The South African government has also been criticised for deploying troops to fight alongside the Congolese government coalition, which includes the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned terrorist group founded by remnants of the perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

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The M23 rebels accuse the coalition of carrying out genocide against Congolese Tutsi communities. The SADC deployment raised fears that the eastern DR Congo conflict, which has also affected relations between Rwanda, DR Congo and Burundi, could widen into a regional crisis.

Eastern DR Congo is home to more than 200 armed groups and has been volatile for three decades. Multiple interventions have failed to end the decades of violence.