Rwanda shoots at DR Congo army jet, says it violated its airspace

Kinshasa denies Kigali’s declare calling the incident a ‘deliberate act of aggression that quantities to an act of conflict’.

Relations between the 2 nations has been strained by assaults by M23 rebels [File: Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters]

Rwandan forces have fired at a fighter jet from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that it stated violated its airspace, prompting the Congolese authorities to accuse it of an act of conflict.

“A Sukhoi-25 fighter jet from the Democratic Republic of Congo violated for the third time Rwandan airspace,” over Rubavu district, close to North Kivu capital Goma, Rwandan authorities spokesperson Yolande Makolo stated in an announcement on Tuesday.

“Defensive measures had been taken,” she stated, including, “Rwanda asks the DRC to cease this aggression.”

In December, Rwanda stated one other fighter jet from the DRC had briefly violated its airspace.

An unarmed Congolese warplane additionally briefly landed at a Rwandan airport in November whereas on a reconnaissance mission close to the border, in what the DRC stated was an accident.

The DRC denied Rwanda’s accusation that the jet had been in Rwandan airspace – the most recent dispute between the 2 nations whose relationship has been strained by insurgent violence.

“The Rwandan photographs had been directed in the direction of a Congolese plane flying inside Congolese territory,” Kinshasa stated in an announcement, confirming the aircraft had landed in Goma with out struggling vital injury.

It described Rwanda’s transfer as a “deliberate act of aggression that quantities to an act of conflict” aimed toward undermining a peace settlement to finish an offensive by the M23 insurgent group.

A video shared extensively on Congolese social media confirmed a projectile taking pictures in the direction of an airborne army aircraft, earlier than exploding close to the aircraft, which continued to fly. The video couldn't be instantly verified.

The DRC, United Nations consultants and Western powers have accused Rwanda of backing the M23, which seized a number of cities and villages within the DRC in renewed combating final yr. Rwanda has denied any involvement.

Regional leaders brokered an settlement in November underneath which the Tutsi-led group was meant to withdraw from lately seized positions by January 15 as a part of efforts to finish the combating that has displaced at the very least 450,000 folks.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi stated final week that the rebels had not absolutely withdrawn from these areas.

In the meantime, new combating erupted on Tuesday morning between Congolese authorities forces and M23 rebels in Masisi and Rutshuru close to the city of Kitshanga, some 70km (43 miles) from Goma.