Rwandan military kills Congolese 'soldier' crossing border

A man wearing a Congolese military uniform was killed by Rwandan troops, the Rwandan military said on Saturday.

The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. local time (2300 UTC Friday) as the unidentified soldier crossed the border between the two countries, the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) reported.

The RDF said in a tweet that the soldier began shooting at Rwandan guard towers. "He was shot dead by RDF patrol before causing any casualties," the military tweeted.

The shooting occurred at the "Petite Barriere" border post, which links the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) city of Goma with Rwanda's Gisenyi.

Congolese officials said no soldier on duty in the area had been reported missing.

DRC and Rwanda's tense relationship

Tensions have been mounting between the DRC and Rwanda over the conflict in Congo's east, which flared up in March, after M23 rebels — following a decade of relative calm — attacked Congolese army positions near the border.

The DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, which has captured swaths of territory in eastern Congo, causing thousands of people to flee.

The government in Kigali denies supporting the militants and has accused the DRC's army of fighting alongside the FDLR, an armed group mainly comprised of ethnic Hutus who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

On Friday, Kenyan mediator and former President Uhuru Kenyatta said Rwandan President Paul Kagame had agreed to help push for the M23 to accept a ceasefire and withdraw from captured territory.

sdi/kb (AFP, Reuters)