South African National Defense Force, says its two soldiers had been killed by mortar fire in eastern DRC on Wednesday and this was the first fatalities since it deployed troops there.

Reports indicate that this vviolence has been on the rise in the conflict-hit region in recent weeks, with many blaming attacks on the M23 rebel group that has been fighting Congolese soldiers in the region for years and it is also indicated that M23 rebels, one of more than 120 armed groups in the region, is receiving military support from neighbouring Rwanda even though Rwanda denies this allegations.

CODECO, a separate rebel group, is a loose association of militia groups mainly from the ethnic Lendu farming community. It has fought other rebel groups, and is known to target areas rich in gold and minerals in the resource-rich country.

SANDF has sent its soldiers to DRC as an effort to reduce violence in the DRC  that has started about 10 years ago, as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to fight against armed rebel groups in the east