Rwandan troops are ready to stage a precision strike inside Democratic Republic of Congo: Richard Gasana

UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) – Rwandan troops are ready to stage a precision strike inside Democratic Republic of Congo if there is a new cross-border shelling, the country’s UN envoy said Friday.

Rwanda has accused DR Congo troops of firing three shells into its territory during a new surge in fighting with rebels near the border.

“If they are not ready to stop this, we will immediately act and it will hurt,” Rwanda’s UN ambassador Eugene Richard Gasana told AFP after UN Security Council talks on the heightened tensions.

“We will do it with laser precision, we know where it is coming from,” he said.

Rwanda is a current temporary member of the Security Council and Gasana said he had given his government’s tough message to the other 14 members. The council has asked for an investigation into the origin of Friday’s shelling, diplomats said.

“We are asking them to get along … and to take their fight far from our border. We already warned the government of Kinshasa,” Gasana added.

Rwanda, which has been accused of aiding M23 rebels in DR Congo, has troops on the border, the envoy said, reaffirming allegations that shelling on Friday had come from areas controlled by the DR Congo army.

“If they dare to continue, it will hurt. We don’t need to increase anything. We have sufficient strength and we know how to deal with it.”

Gasana said the Security Council had been “very sympathetic” to his message.

As peace talks in Kampala between M23 and the DR Congo hit a new deadlock, fresh fighting was reported between the rebels and army forces just north of the key eastern city of Goma.

The Rwandan army said one civilian was injured by one of three shells that crossed the border.