There was no update on the condition of two SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers wounded in Sudan while on UN/African Union peacekeeping duties, the SANDF said on Sunday.

“There is no new information at this point,” Captain Jaco Theunissen said.

On Thursday, Theunissen said the two soldiers were wounded in an ambush near their base.

“The injured soldiers were airlifted by helicopter to the hospital in El Fashir shortly after the ambush. The two members are in a critical but stable condition in the UN hospital,” Theunissen said at the time.

Two other soldiers sustained minor injuries during the ambush at 12.35pm on Wednesday. A section of 4 SA Infantry Battalion came under fire from a suspected rebel group while fetching water from a water hole in Kutum.

Battalion commander Lt-Col Andries Matlaila said: “Had it not been for the swift reaction, high standard of alertness and vigilance of the SANDF members, it could have been a different story.”

Matlaila said the training his troops received in South Africa, and their equipment, ensured they repelled the attack.

This attack followed ones on Ethiopian and Tanzanian forces.

The Sudanese are preparing for their national elections, scheduled for April or May next year which the SANDF, as part of the peacekeeping force, is supporting. SAPA