South Africa is sending troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to join a UN peace mission, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ebrahim Ebrahim said on Friday.

Ebrahim did not say how many SA troops have been sent to the DRC. South Africa has pledged more than 1,300 soldiers to the 3, 500-member brigade.

"South African troops are on their way to the DRC now," Ebrahim told reporters in Pretoria after a briefing on international developments.

Besides South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi have also committed to contributing troops to the brigade whose mission is to engage with rebels in the troubled eastern region of the DRC.

Tanzanian troops are already on the ground, Ebrahim said.

On March 28, the UN Security Council authorized a new intervention brigade for the DRC, mandating to take military action against the rebel groups to help bring peace to the conflict-torn eastern part of the country.

The South African government is facing pressure over sending the peace-keeping force abroad due to suffering a heavy military loss on March 23, when 13 South African peace-keeping soldiers were killed and 27 others injured while fighting with rebel troops outside the Central African Republic's (CAR) capital of Bangui.

South Africa withdrew its troops from the CAR in April. But the South African government said the casualties the South African troops suffered in the CAR would not deter the South African armed forces from doing any other task. Endi

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