Defence attachés accredited to Rwanda, on Monday, visited and witnessed the circumstances under which a DR Congo soldier was shot dead after crossing the Petite Barrière border post in Rubavu District on Saturday, November 19, and started shooting at guard towers of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF).

He was shot before he could cause any casualties, the RDF said.

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The site visit was organised at the request of defence attachés, who wanted to witness the scene and ask questions regarding the incident, the RDF said in a statement.

They were welcomed by Brig Gen Andrew Nyamvumba, the RDF 3rd Division Head of Operations, who took them to Mbugangari, Rubavu a few metres from the Rwanda-DR Congo border.

As explained by Brig Gen Nyamvumba, the defence attachés "were shown how the FARDC soldier crossed with his gun and opened fire targeting RDF soldiers who were positioned on 2 towers just a few meters on the border. RDF soldiers responded to the attack, killing the intruder before he could kill or wound anyone,” the statement said.

Brig Gen Patrick Karuretwa, the RDF Head of International Military Cooperation, said:

"The Defence Attachés are interested in understanding what kind of situation makes it so frequent these days to have such incidents, because unfortunately this is not the first time; the DAs are coming here to witness such incidents. The question they have been discussing is what kind of orders or atmosphere keep leading DRC soldiers to cross and conduct such senseless attacks,” Brig Gen Karuretwa said.

"We are asking the DRC to refrain from such provocative actions.”

He further said that initially DR Congo claimed that it was not their soldier but later they finally admitted after irrefutable facts were produced to prove the reality.

The Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) was notified to record the facts, conduct independent verifications and arrange the repatriation of the body to the DR Congo.

In June, another Congolese soldier armed with an AK-47 rifle crossed the Petite Barriere border, shooting at border patrol policemen and injuring two. He was neutralised by the police.

DR Congo has frequently conducted different acts of aggression including three rocket shelling incidents in Northern Province, which injured civilians and damaged property.

Early this month, a Congolese warplane violated Rwandan airspace after briefly touching down at Rubavu Airport in the Western Province, prompting Kigali to write a note verbale to Kinshasa in protest of the provocations.