JOHANNESBURG, March 2, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - 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.

Around 2,900 more South African troops have deployed in the DRC as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force sent to help the government fight M23 rebels.

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.