DR Congo shuts border to Rwanda after soldier shot dead

The Democratic Republic of Congo 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 two neighbours since rebels that DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting launched a major offensive in eastern Congo last month.

Read:M23 war: DRC suspends bilateral pacts with Rwanda

Rwanda denies Congo’s allegations that it supports the M23 rebels, whose leadership hails from the Tutsi ethnic group, or that it has sent troops into eastern Congo.

Congo’s government ordered the border with Rwanda closedon Friday as of 3 pm local time (1300 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 metres inside Rwanda, the Rwandan military said in a statement.

Read:DRC soldier killed on troubled border with Rwanda

Congo’s government said it was investigating the incident.