On Thursday July 27, the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared that it successfully repelled an incursion by the Rwandan army into the eastern province of North Kivu.
In a press release issued by General Sylvain Ekenge, the spokesperson for the FARDC (Forces armées de RDC) general staff, they asserted their intention to “exercise the right of pursuit.”
The press release did not confirm the reported information from local Congolese sources about a Rwandan soldier being killed in the clash.
According to General Ekenge’s statement, the Rwandan Defence Forces crossed the border north of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, on Thursday morning. Their stated purpose was to send reinforcements and continue destabilizing and intentionally violating the territorial integrity of the DRC.
However, the FARDC units responsible for border security effectively repelled the Rwandan soldiers, forcing them to withdraw back to their own country. The press release emphasized that the FARDC would respond vigorously and exercise the right of hot pursuit.
Additional military sources, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that one Rwandan soldier was killed during the exchange of fire, according to interviews conducted in the Goma region.
By Thursday evening, there had been no response from the Rwandan army or government when contacted by AFP.
It’s worth noting that relations between the DRC and Rwanda have reached an all-time low, with Kinshasa accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebels, who had seized significant portions of territory in North Kivu the previous year. Incidents along the border between the two countries have become relatively frequent.