The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has closed its border with Rwanda after a Congolese soldier was shot dead while attacking border guards inside Rwandan territory.
The border closure is the latest escalation in a diplomatic crisis that has broken out between the neighbors since rebels that DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting, launched a major offensive in eastern DRC last month.
Rwanda denies DRC’s allegations that it supports the M23 rebels, whose leadership hails from the same Tutsi ethnic group as Rwanda President Paul Kagame, or that it has sent troops into eastern DRC.
DRC’s government ordered the border with Rwanda closed as of 3 pm local time (13:00 GMT), according to a statement from the office of South Kivu’s governor.
Two Rwandan police officers were injured when the Congolese soldier crossed the border and opened fire, before an officer on duty fired back and killed him 25 meters inside Rwanda, the Rwandan military said in a statement.
DRC’s government said it was investigating the incident.
