A DR Congo soldier was killed and two Rwandan policemen were wounded Friday in an exchange of fire on their country’s tense border that also left civilians injured, security sources said.
The incident happened at a frontier post in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, hiking tensions between two countries with a decades-long history of fraught ties.
“A Congolese soldier rushed forward, opening fire in the direction of the Rwandan border,” a Congolese policeman who was present said.
“A Rwandan soldier opened fire and he died on the spot. There was then an exchange of fire between us and the Rwandan security forces.
“Some of the civilians who were waiting to cross the border were wounded.”
Rwanda’s army confirmed the incident, in North Kivu province, saying on Twitter that an “unidentified Congolese soldier fired on passers-by who were crossing the border”.
“He wounded two (Rwandan) policemen… (and) was shot in return,” it said.
The Congolese soldier, who was bearing an AK-47 assault rifle, was shot 25 metres inside Rwandan territory, the army said earlier.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said he was treating the events as “just an incident” and that an investigation would be conducted after he held talks with his Congolese counterpart.
