The Rwandan army carried out a “drone attack” on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s airport in eastern Goma, which damaged civilian planes, Congo’s military said on Saturday.
The accusations came after a bomb blast was reported early Saturday at the Goma International Airport in North Kivu province amid ongoing fighting between M23 rebels and government forces.
“The Rwandan army drones targeted aircraft of FARDC (DR Congo army), in the wee hours of Saturday,” army spokesperson in North Kivu province, Guillaume Djike Kaïko, said in a video shared by provincial authorities.
But “the FARDC aircraft were not hit, it was rather the civilian planes that were damaged,” he said.
Rebels' advance
The security situation remains volatile around Goma, where thousands of residents fleeing war have sought safety amid heavy fighting.
Recently, Congolese fighter jets have reportedly been used to hit M23 rebels after fighting intensified around the strategic town of Sake, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the pro vincial capital, Goma.
Sake is said to be the last barrier before Goma, whose capture by rebels would cut it off.
The Congo accuses Rwanda of backing M23 rebels battling government forces in the east, a claim Kigali consistently denies.
Kigali has also accused Kinshasa of pursuing regime change in Rwanda.
There was no immediate response from the Rwandan military on the latest allegations.
Regional force
Meanwhile, Rwanda implored the UN not to support a regional force deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight armed groups, questioning the mission's neutrality.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) force "is not a neutral force in the current crisis," Rwanda's Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said in a document sent to UN Security Council Pre sident made public on Friday.
Biruta claimed that the SADC mission aimed to "support the Government of DRC's belligerent posture, which bears the potential for further escalation of the conflict and increased tensions in the region."
Rwanda would have no problem with the UN supporting regional forces if they were genuinely intended to bring peace to the DRC's restive eastern region, he added.
Mediation efforts
This comes amid ongoing clashes between the M23 rebels and the Congolese army in the DRC's eastern North Kivu province, displacing thousands.
Last month, the Congolese military announced the start of a joint offensive with troops from the SADC in the east of the country, with an offensive mandate mainly targeting the M23 rebels.
On Friday, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at a mini-summit hosted by Angolan President João Lour enço to discuss the conflict in eastern Congo.
Civilians displaced
Lourenco, African Union designated mediator on the peace and security situation in eastern Congo, stressed the need to revive the peace process and achieve a cease-fire between the Congo’s armed forces and the M23 rebel group, as well as to initiate direct dialogue between Tshisekedi and Kagame to end the conflict between the two neighbouring countries.
Since the first week of February, at least 15 civilians have been killed and 29 injured around Goma and Sake, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said earlier this week.
Roughly 135,000 internally displaced persons have fled Sake to Goma, according to the UNHCR.
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