Bukavu – A Democratic Republic ofCongo (DRC) provincial governor traded accusations with neighbouring Rwanda on Wednesday hours after an exchange of gunfire at the border of the troubled region.
The Rwandan army in a statement said between 12 and 14 Congolese troops overnight had entered the no-man’s-land between the two borders near Rusizi and “opened fire on our frontier post”.
“Our security forces responded, and the (Congolese) soldiers withdrew,” it said, asking a bilateral panel to “investigate this act of provocation”.
In a reply, the governor of DR Congo’s South Kivu province, Theo Ngwabidje, lashed the accusation as “a lie”.
He confirmed that an “incident” had occurred at the border but described it as an “altercation” involving an exchange of fire between the Congolese security forces and fleeing criminals.
#Rwanda accuses the #DRC of attacking it’s guard post in the western district of Rusizi pic.twitter.com/GRmHgyHpjE
— Intel Orange (@IntelOrange34) February 16, 2023
“In no case did the (army) cross the neutral zone, let alone open fire in the direction of Rwanda,” Theo Ngwabidje Kasi, governor of South Kivu province (Via ABC News)
— Intel Orange (@IntelOrange34) February 16, 2023
The “bandits” sustained one dead and one wounded, he said, adding that the Congolese forces “at no point entered the neutral zone and even less opened fire on Rwanda”.
“Rwanda’s tendency to want to portray itself as a victim and stoke tensions by making false accusations reveals without any doubt its intention to attack South Kivu province, as is currently the case in the war of aggression that it is carrying out in North Kivu.”
The incident occurs against a backdrop of tension between the Democratic Republic of Congo and its smaller neighbour Rwanda over an offensive in North Kivu by the M23 armed group.
The Kinshasa government accuses Rwanda of backing the militia – an allegation supported by UN experts and several Western countries but strongly denied by Kigali.
ALSO READ | Rwanda troops clash with DRC police, Congolese sources say
Last month, Rwanda accused a Congolese fighter jet of violating its airspace near Goma, a Congolese town on North Kivu’s border.
The plane came under fire but was able to land safely in Goma.
In South Kivu, according to Congolese sources, Rwandan soldiers clashed with Congolese police last month on a small island on Lake Kivu, which marks the frontier between the neighbours.
The Rwandan authorities have not commented on the reported incident.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@TruthPuke
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
