The statement released by Rwanda National Police (RNP) reads that the incident took place on Saturday 18th June 2022.
“This Saturday afternoon at around 14:00 hours, armed thugs, suspected to be remnants of FLN operating from across the border, shot at a public passenger bus on the Nyamagabe – Rusizi road in Nyungwe forest, Nyamagabe District,” reads part of the statement.
The statement further reads that the assailants killed the bus driver, one passenger and injured six other passengers who were evacuated to Kigeme Hospital and teh University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB) for medical attention.
“The Rwanda National Police intervened minutes into the incident. The assailants are being tracked down,” add the statement.
IGIHE has learnt that the killed driver is identified as Ibrahim Issa working with Rwanda Inter-Link Transport Company (RITCO).
The declaration has been communicated through a statement released by the Ministry of Communication and Media dated 17th June 2022.
Tshisekedi files the accusations following a High Defence Council on Wednesday this week which resolved to revoke all agreements signed with Rwanda.
Tensions between Rwanda and DRC escalated after the resurgence of M23 rebel group in clashes with Congolese Military (FARDC).
DRC has been accusing Rwanda of supporting the rebel group but Rwanda repeatedly refuted the allegations maintaining that it has no interest in destabilizing the neighbouring country’s security.
M23 recently captured Bunagana town at the border with Uganda and continues to advance towards Rutshuru.
Tshisekedi has said that the situation continues to worsen because Rwanda wants to occupy its land and exploit minerals.
“The security situation in east of the country continues to deteriorate, and fundamentally because Rwanda seeks to occupy our land, rich in gold, coltan and cobalt, for own exploitation and profit,” he said.
Tshisekedi also called on UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to exert pressure on Rwanda to withdraw troops from DRC.
Meanwhile, M23 recently denied having any connections with Rwanda highlighting that some of weapons used during the battle have been bought from FARDC soldiers while others were kept in their hideouts long ago.
The Government of Rwanda has reiterated commitment to engage in discussions aimed at mending relations with DRC.
On Wednesday15th June 2022, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta who is the incumbent Chairperson of EAC called for urgent deployment of a joint regional force to disarm rebel groups and restore peace in eastern part of DRC as agreed during the Second Regional Heads of State Conclave on DRC in Kenya in April this year.
Following the request, DRC released a statement welcoming the decision but boycotted the intervention from Rwanda.
“The Government of DRC said it welcomed the proposal made yesterday by the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta of deploying a new regional military force led by the East African Community to enforce peace in the provinces targeted by M23 and Rwanda, but insist they will not accept the participation of Rwanda in this joint force,” reads part of the statement.
DRC makes the statement at a time when Rwanda reiterated willingness to provide troops to support peace operations under the joint regional force.
Speaking to the media on Friday; Prof. Manasseh Nshuti, Rwanda’s State Minister for EAC Affairs said that the deployment of a joint force resulted from agreements between heads of state.
He explained that Rwanda is a member of EAC committed to maintain with security in the region and ready to send forces to restore peace under the joint operation.
The decision to establish a regional force was arrived at in April when Kenyatta hosted the leaders of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the DRC in Nairobi to discuss the crisis.
The regional commanders of the seven-nation EAC bloc are expected to meet on Sunday 19th June 2022 to finalize preparations for the deployment of the joint force.
The East African Regional Force will be deployed to the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces.
Kenyatta said the regional force will work alongside local provincial authorities and in close coordination with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to disarm anyone carrying illegal firearms.
The Director of Immigration and Emigration in North Kivu, Ngoy Mukalay has told members of the press that the directive went into effect from Friday 17th June 2022.
The close at 3p.m. follows a cross-border incident where a Congolese soldier stormed Rwandan territory with a rapid fire and injured two policemen before he was shot dead by Rwandan security forces on guard.
Tension between Rwanda and DRC has escalated following the resurgence of M23 in clashes with Congolese Army.
DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the rebel group but Rwanda has repeatedly refuted these claims and asked the country to seek a solution to its internal matters without dragging it into the war.
M23 has so far captured Bunagana town bordering with Uganda.
The EJVM is a mechanism of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) composed of military officers from the 12 member countries that is charged with monitoring and verification of border violations between DRC and neighbouring countries.
RDF has through a statement released today indicated that the attacker who also opened fire on civilians crossing the border was shot back in self-defence.
“This morning at around 0845 am, an unidentified Congolese soldier armed with an AK 47 rifle crossed the “Petite Barrière” border in Rubavu District and began shooting at Rwandan security personnel and civilians crossing the border, injuring two Rwandan police officers. A Rwanda National Police officer on duty shot back in self defence, to protect civilians crossing the border and border agents,” reads part of the statement.
RDF has also disclosed that the Congolese soldier was shot dead 25 metres inside Rwandan territory and requested probe into the circumstances.
“The RDF has invited the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) to investigate the incident. Rwanda has informed DRC authorities, and DRC-Rwanda border officials are visiting the scene,” adds the statement.
Following the incident, the general public has been assured that the situation is calm at the border.
IGIHE has learnt that the killed soldier stormed Rwandan territory tutting that he wants to revenge for colleagues who lost lives during FARDC fighting with M23.
The attack follows recent incident at the border between Rwanda and DRC in Goma where Congolese took to street in large numbers for protests against Rwanda accusing it of supporting M23 rebel group in clashes with Congolese Army.
Rioters mounted demonstrations at Petite Barrière on Tuesday this week where they threw stones on Rwandan territory.
They also attempted to storm Rwanda but Rwanda National Police foiled them.
DRC continues to accuse Rwanda of being behind the resurgence of M23 claiming that the neighbouring country helped the rebel group to seize Bunagana town.
Rwanda has repeatedly refuted these allegations and urged DRC to solve its internal problems without dragging it into the war.
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It is said that the soldier of Congolese Army (FARDC) was equipped with AK 47 gun when he opened the rapid fire on the police officers who responded to the shooting for self-defence.
The border is located in Gasutamo Village, Mbugangari Cell of Gisenyi Sector in Rubavu District.
Sources reveal that the Congolese soldier stormed Rwandan territory shooting at Rwanda’s Police officers and injured one of them.
The policemen fired one bullet as a warning to the attacker and later shot him on the head after declining to stop.
A source has told IGIHE that the body is laid on Rwandan side close to metallic bars at the border.
Officials have not yet commented on the incident but media houses in DRC have reported that the country’s authorities have launched probe into the case.
Some media houses in DRC have revealed that the killed soldier stormed Rwandan territory tutting that he wants to revenge for colleagues who lost lives during FARDC fighting with M23.
The attack follows recent incident at the border between Rwanda and DRC in Goma where Congolese took to street in large numbers for protests against Rwanda accusing it of supporting M23 rebel group in clashes with Congolese Army.
Rioters mounted demonstrations at Petite Barrière on Tuesday this week where they threw stones on Rwandan territory.
They also attempted to storm Rwanda but Rwanda National Police foiled them.
DRC continues to accuse Rwanda of being behind the resurgence of M23 claiming that the neighbouring country helped the rebel group to seize Bunagana town.
Rwanda has repeatedly refuted these allegations and urged DRC to solve its internal problems without dragging it into a war.
Meanwhile, the rebel group recently denied having any connections with Rwanda highlighting that some of weapons used during the battle have been bought from FARDC soldiers while others were kept in their hideouts long ago.
DRC provocations on Rwanda have escalated in the past few weeks where it has been abusing Kinyarwanda-speaking citizens.
The citizens accused of having connections with Rwanda have also seen their belongings looted.
[{{Related story: RDF confirms another shelling by FARDC on Rwandan territory}}->https://en.igihe.com/news/article/drc-fires-rockets-into-rwanda]
The meeting was held in the evening of Wednesday after Tshisekedi received oaths of three new judges of the Constitutional Court.
As he attended the ceremony, Tshisekedi did not deliver a speech as expected but RTNC , DRC national broadcaster announced that the head of state had other urgent appointments ‘related to issues between the country and Rwanda’.
The Defence Council brought together senior military officers and representatives from other security forces.
Similar meeting held recently resolved on suspension of RwandAir flights to all destinations in DRC including Lubumbashi, Goma and Kinshasa.
One of resolutions taken during the meeting held on Wednesday is ‘to demand Rwanda to withdraw its troops from DRC’.
The resolution comes at a time when Rwanda has repeatedly maintained that it has no soldiers on the country’s land. The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) recently confirmed that it has not yet seen any Rwandan soldier in DRC.
As announced by the minister of communication and spokesperson of DRC, Patrick Muyaya; the Security Council also resolved on requesting DRC government to suspend all agreements signed with Rwanda.
However, it remains unclear whether the decision concerns agreements signed before or during the regime of Tshisekedi.
IGIHE has learnt that another meeting is expected between Thursday and Friday to confirm the revocation.
It is said that the country also mulls suspending diplomatic cooperation.
In March 2019, Rwanda and DRC signed agreements to open airspace which saw RwandAir commencing flights to Kinshasa and vice versa.
In June 2021, DRC and Rwanda signed three cooperation agreements on the promotion and protection of investments, avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion between the two countries as well as a memorandum on gold mining.
Both countries also signed more agreements aligning with their membership to East African Community (EAC).
Since FARDC fight with M23 erupted, DRC has been accusing Rwanda of supporting the rebel group. Rwanda has refuted the allegations as baseless claims and urged the country to stop dragging it into its internal problems.
As per figures released by the National Institute of Statistics (NISR) for the quarter ended on 31st March 2022 , agriculture registered 1 percent growth in the first quarter, industries grew by 10% while the service sector grew by 11%.
Overall, services sector remained the main contributor with 47 percent of GDP, agriculture sector contributed 23 percent, industry sector contributed 22 percent while net direct taxes accounted for 8%.
Agricultural activities grew by 1 percent and contributed 0.6 percentage points to overall GDP growth. Within agriculture, the production of food crops decreased by 1 percent and the production of export crops increased by 14 percent too.
In the industry sector, the main contributors were construction activities which grew by 6 percent, manufacturing activities which grew by 11 percent. Mining and quarrying activities also increased by 16 percent.
The growth in manufacturing activities is due to an increase of 6 percent in food processing, 12 in beverages and tobacco, 20 percent in wood and paper; printing, 19 percent in production of chemicals and plastic products and 22% in textiles.
Within services sector; information and communication services increased by 17 percent, professional, scientific and technical activities increased by 5 percent, real estate activities increased by 5 percent while education increased by 2 percent.
NISR also shows that Human health and social work activities increased by 22 percent, hotel and restaurant services by 80 percent, administrative and support services by 6 percent and public administration and defense; compulsory social security by 7 percent.
The Deputy Director General of NISR, Ivan Murenzi has said that the global economy is currently facing issues related to the supply chain and effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
He attributed the GDP growth to expended efforts including vaccination campaign to inoculate a large number leading to eased COVID-19 restrictions for businesses to resume.
He made the call on Wednesday 15th June 2022 as insecurity continues to escalate in eastern DRC following weeks of fighting between M23 and FARDC which saw thousands of people displaced.
Kenyatta has through a statement said that the recent developments including open hostilities, create a serious threat to the success of regional leadership’s work including the promotion of outcomes of the Inter-Congolese consultations on the Nairobi Process.
The Head of State has also called for the declaration of the areas of Ituri in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces as weapon free zones, where any individual carrying weapons outside the official and legally deployed and mandated forces will be disarmed.
Considering the situation, Kenyatta has called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities in eastern DRC, and for armed groups, both foreign and local, to lay down arms immediately, unconditionally ‘and commit to political process’.
“In doing so, I call for the activation of the East African Regional Force under the auspices of the East African Community [EAC]. The Regional Force is a component of the military/security enforcement track also provided for in the Communiqué adopted on 21st April 2022,” he stated.
The decision to establish a regional force was arrived at in April when Kenyatta hosted the leaders of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the DRC in Nairobi to discuss the crisis.
Kenyatta also revealed that the Regional commanders of the seven-nation EAC bloc will meet on Sunday to finalize preparations for the deployment of the joint force.
“The East African Regional Force shall be deployed to the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces immediately to stabilize the zone and enforce peace.”
Kenyatta said the regional force will work alongside local provincial authorities and in close coordination with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to disarm anyone carrying illegal firearms.
On Monday this week, M23 announced that it captured Bunagana town and border.
The fighting saw people displaced while Congolese soldiers fled to Uganda.
According to media reports, Uganda has repatriated the soldiers to DRC.
Congolese took to streets in the morning of Wednesday 15th June 2022 for protests against Rwanda accusing the country of supporting M23 group in clashes with Congolese Army (FARDC).
The demonstrations took place in different places including Goma town in Northern Kivu Province and premises of Rwanda’s embassy in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Those who participated in the protests include parliamentarians, representatives from civil society organizations, ordinary citizens, motorcyclists and traders among others.
In Goma, rioters turned violent and mounted demonstrations at the country’s small border with Rwanda commonly known as ’Petite Barrière’ where they threw stones on Rwandan territory.
Videos taken during the riots show Congolese protesting at the border while others pulled down advertising banners on Rwandans’ shops. Banners advertising RwandAir in Goma were also destroyed.
Young people participating in the protests are also seen running fast to loot Rwandans’ shops.
Sandro Shyaka, a businessman in Rubavu district with shops in Goma town is among affected traders.
The businessman was abducted recently on 12th May 2021 by unidentified people in Kimoka area located in 20 kilometers from Goma town as he travelled from Sake to Kitshanga in Masisi.
He was released on huge ransom paid by his family.
A journalist based in Goma has told IGIHE that the majority of the youth looting the shops are gangs hired to stage demonstrations even though some of them have been foiled.
He revealed that protestors including ‘the gangs attempted to break padlocks on Rwandans’ shops but foiled by Police’.
The journalist has also revealed that some of gangs have been brought together to receive warning against such violence.
On Tuesday, some Congolese attempted to assault Rwandan students but were arrested by Police and released in the evening.
The attacks to Rwandans continue to escalate in DRC where the gangs are reported to be prime masterminds orchestrating the assaults to loot their properties.
Meanwhile, there are opinion leaders and politicians who continue to fuel hatred against Rwandans and supporting the gangs’ violent acts.
The riots have also seen Rwandans halting movements to Goma lest they are assaulted after crossing into DRC.
Protests also attempted to storm Rwanda but Rwanda National Police foiled them.
