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Rwanda’s army has said its troops briefly exchanged fire with soldiers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at a border post, as tension continues to spike between the neighbours.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kigali said that 12 to 14 Congolese soldiers entered the neutral zone near the western district of Rusizi and opened fire at a Rwandan border post, in “an act of provocation”.
At least 24 people have been killed and 53 wounded amid heavy fighting in the Somali city of Las Anod, after local clan elders declared their intention to cut ties with the breakaway republic of Somaliland and rejoin Somalia.
In a second day of violence, local elders said on Tuesday that electricity and water in the city had been cut off, and a health centre had been attacked with mortars.
DRC’s army confirmed the withdrawal, calling it a tactical move to protect civilians in the face of renewed unrest provoked by the rebel fighters’ reinvigorated offensive.
The rebels took control of Kitshanga late Thursday after capturing several villages on the road linking the town of about 60,000 people to the provincial capital Goma.
Heavy fighting erupted between government forces and M23 rebels on Tuesday morning in the eastern North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials and residents said.
“Intense fighting broke out at around 5 a.m. local time (0300GMT) in several areas in Masisi and Rutshuru, near Kitshanga town,” Georges Bushu Bishye, vice-president of the area’s local peace and development committee, told Anadolu.
The National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] in coordination with the Somali National Army [SNA] eliminated over 40 Al-Shabaab militants, state media reported, in the latest operation targeting the militants, who have been engaging in retaliatory attacks across the country.
According to state media, the operation by the multi-agency security forces targeted the militants across Farabaako area, just south of Xawaadley in central Somalia. The operation was activated a day after Tuesday’s attack against civilians in the village, a move which was seen as a provocation.