Fighting flared again on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) early yesterday, marking the second day of skirmishes between two neighbors locked in a decades-long dispute.
Rwandan and Congolese troops traded heavy weapons fire in the morning, a witness said.
“There were heavy arms fire explosions, rockets,” the local told reporters on condition of anonymity.
A senior DR Congo military officer said that Rwandan troops “attacked our positions.”
A Rwandan military source, also speaking anonymously, told reporters there had “not been serious clashes,” just “sporadic firings” of heavy weapons.
The fighting followed Wednesday’s exchange of gunfire, with each blaming the other for the outbreak of violence.
The Congolese army said the fighting started after the abduction of one of its soldiers by Rwandan troops who crossed the border into the DR Congo’s restive North Kivu Province, while Kigali said Congolese troops crossed into its territory and opened fire on Rwandan soldiers.
The two country have long been at odds, with Rwanda repeatedly accused by the UN and Kinshasa of backing a rebellion by the M23 rebel group that temporarily seized parts of eastern DR Congo.
Rwanda last year accused the Congolese army of firing rockets and mortar shells on its territory and massed troops along its border in response.
Tutsi-dominated militias rebel groups backed by Rwanda fought the Kinshasa government during the civil wars of 1996 to 1997 and 1998 to 2003, and Kigali has been involved in several attempts to destabilize the DR Congo by supporting such rebel groups.
There are fears the latest violence could undermine international efforts to bring stability to the DR Congo’s lawless east after years of bloody conflict.
The conflict is fuelled by the east’s wealth of mineral reserves, particularly gold and minerals used in electronic products.
Wednesday’s skirmishes took place about 20km northeast of Goma, capital of North Kivu, where rebels from a Hutu group linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide began surrendering last month.
The rebels are members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which includes remnants of the militia that carried out the genocide of at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis.
According to the UN’s estimates, the militant group has about 1,500 members, while Kigali puts the figure at 4,000. Its fighters have been accused of widespread violence and rights abuses in the DR Congo.
Western officials sought to play down the escalating rhetoric on Wednesday, as Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said the country stood “ready to act to protect its citizens” against further attacks.
“We are in contact with both governments and are trying to understand exactly what happened... This is to reduce the tension,” a senior UN official said.
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