Rwanda again accuses the DRC of overflying its airspace

Rwanda accuses the DRC of violating its airspace at Lake Kivu.

(illustrative image) AFP - ALEXIS HUGUET

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Rwanda accuses a Congolese military plane of having " 

violated 

" its airspace, in a context of heightened tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa.

On Wednesday evening, December 28, the spokesperson for the Rwandan government issued a statement in which he claimed that a DRC craft flew over western Rwanda earlier in the day.

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According to the Rwandan government, a Congolese Sukhoi-25 attack aircraft flew briefly around noon on Wednesday over Rwanda along Lake Kivu before quickly returning to Congo.

For Kigali, it is a violation of its airspace, perceived as one more provocation after

a similar event on November 7

, when a Congolese military aircraft landed for a few moments at Rubavu airport before leaving.

“ 

These provocations must stop

 ” declares the Rwandan government.

“ 

The Congolese authorities,

he said in a press release,

seem encouraged by some of the international community to blame Rwanda for all ills by ignoring the transgressions of the DRC

 ”.

DRC FIGHTER JET VIOLATES RWANDAN AIRSPACE AGAIN


A Sukhoi-25 fighter jet from the Democratic Republic of Congo violated Rwandan airspace along Lake Kivu in the Western Province of Rwanda today at around 12:00 pm, and immediately returned to the DRC.


More: https://t.co/jKXn4vpGm9 pic.twitter.com/UPkjGKxRpy

— Rwanda Government Communications (@RwandaOGS) December 28, 2022

Kinshasa has not yet responded.

On Tuesday evening, the Congolese authorities presented their

new defense policy

and on this occasion showed

Rwandan nationals accused of espionage

and conspiracy against President Tshisekedi. 

New sequence in a context of tension

A few days earlier, on December 24, the Congolese army

had called 

the withdrawal of the M23 from a strategic town near Goma a “

decoy

 ” .

Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of being responsible for the M23 offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The United States and France have asked Kigali to end all support for the armed group.

In their latest report, UN experts claim to have found

evidence of the intervention of the Rwandan army

on Congolese soil to reinforce the M23 or for operations against the FDLR.

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