CAPE TOWN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) on Wednesday dismissed a U.S. media report that some of its soldiers had surrendered to rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
National Security News (nationalsecuritynews.com), a U.S.-based online publication, published a report Tuesday, claiming that several SANDF soldiers deployed as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC had surrendered to M23 rebels.
The report, written by an anonymous "Washington DC correspondent," said that "several South African soldiers, deployed by the ANC Government into the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of an ill equipped and ill prepared force, surrendered to M23 rebels this past week. The soldiers are now being held as hostages by M23."
The SANDF, however, in a statement issued Wednesday rejected the report, saying "categorically" that "all SANDF members deployed in the DRC have been accounted for."
"The convoluted article published by the faceless Washington correspondent is dismissed with the contempt it deserves," said the statement.
It also noted that "this is not the first time such unfounded and baseless news articles have been written about the SANDF since its deployment in the DRC."
"We view such attempts to discredit the Defense Force in the most serious light by faceless people, and will not stand and allow its good name to be tarnished," the SANDF said in the statement. ■
