S.African govt plans troop surge to quell unrest -reports

FILE PHOTO: A self-armed local looks for looters inside a supermarket following protests that have widened into looting, in Durban, South Africa July 13, 2021, in this screen grab taken from a video. Courtesy Kierran Allen/via REUTERS

DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) -South Africa plans to deploy up to 25,000 soldiers in two provinces where security forces are struggling to quell days of looting, arson and violence, its defence minister told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, according to local news channel eNCA.

A military surge of that size would increase tenfold the number of soldiers deployed in the hot spots of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, where the police and army have been battling unrest for days.