A member of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) died on Wednesday while on duty as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) intervention force in Mozambique, a BDF official announced on Thursday.
BDF spokesman Tebo Dikole said the unnamed soldier died following “an unfortunate incident” in Mueda district of Mozambique’s troubled Cabo Delgado province.
“The late BDF member was part of the second Botswana contingent deployed under the auspices of SADC for regional support to the Republic of Mozambique to combat the threat of terrorism and acts of violent extremism in the Cabo Delgado Province as an element of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM),” Dikole said.
He said investigations were underway “to determine the cause of the incident that resulted in his death.”
Botswana is one of several SADC countries that have contributed troops to assist Mozambique to repel the threat posed by Islamic State-linked insurgents who have wreaked havoc in the north of the country since 2017. Other countries are Angola, Malawi and South Africa.
JN/APA