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Head of UN Mission calls for calm after DRC's border fights with Rwanda

13 June 2014 02:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Martin Kobler, the head of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), known as MONUSCO, on Thursday called for calm after the Wednesday border fight between Congolese and Rwandan soldiers, a UN spokesman told reporters here, APA reports quoting AP.

"Kobler is in contact with Congolese and Rwandan authorities to help defuse the situation," Farhan Haq, the UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"Efforts are underway to avoid any unnecessary tensions and to encourage the DRC and Rwanda to remain engaged in the implementation of the Peace and Security Cooperation Framework and continue furthering good neighborly relations, which had improved recently," Haq said.

Rwandan and Congolese troops clashed along their border for the second consecutive day on Thursday, as long-running tensions threatened to escalate toward a full-scale war, reports said.

Troops exchanged heavy artillery and mortars along the border about 19 kilometers north of the DRC's mineral-trading city of Goma, the reports said, adding that both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes.

The skirmishes, which erupted on Wednesday, have ended months of relative calm along the tense border, more than six months after United Nations troops helped the Congolese army defeat the M23 rebels. UN investigators accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels, but Kigali has repeatedly denied the accusations.

"Five Congolese soldiers have reportedly been killed in clashes on Wednesday between the Congolese and the Rwandan army, and one Rwandan civilian was injured," Haq said. "Both the DRC and Rwanda have asked the Joint Verification Mechanism to investigate the incident."