CNN
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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday denied Rwanda’s allegation that a Congolese fighter jet violated Rwanda’s airspace, arguing that the plane was attacked by Rwandan forces in an “act of deliberate aggression leads to an act of war.”
The Rwanda government communications office has released a declare on Twitter on Tuesday said: “Today at 5:03 PM, a DR Congo Sukhoi-25 violated Rwandan airspace for the third time. Defensive measures have been taken. Rwanda asks the DRC to stop this aggression.”
The Congolese government then issued a declare protested Kigali’s version of events, alleging that the jet was “hacked as it was beginning to land on the runway of Goma International Airport.”
“Rwandan flames were directed at a Congolese plane flying inside Congolese. It did not fly over Rwandan airspace. The plane landed without major material damage.”
It goes on to say that “the government considers this eleventh attack by Rwanda to be an act of deliberate aggression leading to an act of war” with the “single objective of sabotaging” ongoing efforts. was launched to restore peace in the eastern DRC, where a rebel insurgency has fractured relations between the two countries.
CNN was unable to independently verify either version of the event.
A video widely shared on Congolese social media shows a bullet hitting a military plane in the air, before exploding in the air near the plane that was continuing to fly. CNN was unable to immediately verify the video.
Rwanda has been accused by the Congolese government, the United Nations and its Western allies of supporting the notorious armed rebel group M23 in its violent uprising in the eastern DRC, which Kigali denies.
Regional leaders brokered an agreement in November under which the Tutsi-led group intends to withdraw from newly captured positions by January 15 as part of an effort to end the conflict. The fighting has displaced at least 450,000 people.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said last week that the insurgents have not yet fully withdrawn from those areas.
In December, Rwanda he said Another fighter jet from the Congo briefly violated its airspace.
An unarmed Congolese fighter jet also made a quick landing at a Rwandan airport in November while on a reconnaissance mission near the border, in what Congo considers an accident.
