By Charles Mangwiro

MAPUTO, June 24 (Reuters) - Four soldiers were killed on Saturday and 11 others seriously injured when a mortar exploded during an operation to destroy arms left over from a blast at a Mozambique armoury in March, a military spokesman said.

The death of the soldiers is the fourth such incident this year, sparking public anger among Mozambicans who accuse the government of failing to dispose of tonnes of weaponry left over from the country's civil war in the 1970s and 1980s.

National Defence spokesman Joaquim Mataruca said on Sunday the incident took place when about 25 soldiers were offloading 13 tonnes of heavy artillery collected from the obsolete arsenal in the Maputo neighbourhood of Malhazine.

"I confirm that four soldiers were killed and 11 others were seriously injured during an operation to transport and destroy mortars and missiles from the arsenal late on Saturday evening," he said.

Mataruca said it was a joint operation with South African soldiers to destroy weapons left over from the explosion in March, which killed 105 people and sent rockets and artillery shells raining down on residential areas around Mozambique's capital.

More than 4,000 explosives landed in people's yards and homes, some of which were completely destroyed.

Mataruca declined to say whether any South Africans involved in Saturday's operation were injured but said that the dead were all Mozambicans.

The government has said the blasts were triggered by high temperatures.

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