Sept 15 (Reuters) – Two U.S. government officials were accidentally shot and wounded by Eswatini’s defence force during an anti-smuggling operation last week, the government of the Southern African monarchy said.
Acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said in a statement late on Monday that the officials were injured on Friday in the rural village of Maphiveni, about a two-hour drive from the capital, Mbabane.
It was not immediately clear what the U.S. personnel were doing in the area, but Mdluli said the army had launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
She added that Eswatini was in communication with the U.S. government as the investigation progressed and remained committed to strengthening its longstanding relationship with Washington.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eswatini has maintained close ties with the U.S. under President Donald Trump, with the kingdom receiving more than 30 third-country deportees.
In total it has agreed to host 160 under a $5.1 million agreement that has been challenged by lawyers who say deportees are being detained despite having already served sentences for crimes committed in the U.S.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya;Writing by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning and Bill Berkrot)
