March 2 (Reuters) – Rwanda-backed rebels on Monday claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the airport serving Kisangani, a strategic city in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo far from active front lines in the east.
AFC/M23, which U.N. experts say is backed by Rwanda, first launched drones at the airport in early February, saying it had been used to attack AFC/M23 positions and civilians in areas under its control.
In a statement published late on Monday, it said the second attack on Sunday was “a targeted operation to neutralise and destroy drones that were about to be launched to massacre civilians and attack our positions.” The statement said AFC/M23 had forces deployed on the outskirts of Kisangani.
AFC/M23 controls swathes of eastern Congo after a rapid offensive last year in which it seized the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu. Rwanda denies backing the rebels.
The government of Tshopo province, where Kisangani is located, said four kamikaze drones were intercepted and shot down near the airport between Sunday afternoon and early evening, some as a passenger aircraft was preparing to land. It did not report any damage or casualties.
It was not clear whether any other drones had hit targets, and Tshopo’s governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Reuters witness at the airport heard several explosions throughout Sunday afternoon and bursts of gunfire that sent staff, vendors and nearby residents fleeing. Operations resumed in the evening.
Fighting has continued in eastern Congo in recent weeks on several fronts, despite mediation efforts by parties including Qatar and the United States.
Last Tuesday, Congo’s army killed AFC/M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma, one of the group’s most visible figures, in a drone strike near the coltan-mining town of Rubaya.
