Congo closes border to Rwanda
Soldier killed in gunbattle reportedly in Rwandan territory
NAIROBI, Kenya — Congo shut its border with Rwanda on Friday afternoon after one of its soldiers was killed after he allegedly injured two police officers while reportedly inside Rwandan territory — bringing to a head monthslong tensions that have raised the specter of war in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
The border closure came hours after Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense announced that a Congolese soldier that morning had opened fire and wounded two security forces officers at the country’s border.
A Rwandan police officer “shot back in self-defense,” the ministry said in a statement, killing the Congolese soldier “25 meters inside Rwandan territory.”
It was not immediately clear what had set off the firefight at the border, but relations between the two countries have soured in recent weeks, with Congo accusing Rwanda of supporting a rebel group that it is battling in its mineral-rich but restive eastern regions.
The escalation in violence has led to accusations of cross-border attacks and the kidnapping of soldiers from Rwanda, along with protests and reports of hate speech and discrimination against speakers of Kinyarwanda, the official language of Rwanda.
The rebel group March 23 Movement, or M23, has for years clashed with government forces and, in 2012, briefly took over Goma, the capital of the eastern North Kivu province.
The group resumed hostilities late last year, after blaming the government for failing to provide amnesty to its soldiers and incorporate them into the military as part of a 2009 peace agreement. The rebel group’s forces consist mostly of Tutsis.
As the fighting has intensified, M23 last week seized Bunagana, a hub of cross-border trade in North Kivu, pushing many of the town’s residents to flee to neighboring Uganda. The capture incensed Congolese officials, who accused Rwanda of assisting an “invasion” in their territory.
Rwanda has denied backing the offensive, but that did not stop Congolese officials from suspending bilateral agreements with the country Thursday.
“The security situation in the East of the country continues to deteriorate, and fundamentally because Rwanda seeks to occupy our land, rich in gold, coltan and cobalt, for their own exploitation and profit,” Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, said in a statement. “This is an economic war for the battle of resources, fought by Rwanda’s terrorist gangs.”