DRC bombed an aid plane after signing a peace deal (AFC/M23)
The Congolese government is accused by the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC/M23) rebel movement of attacking a humanitarian plane in South Kivu, just 72 hours after a peace agreement was signed in Washington. This accusation has sparked fears of a resurgence of bloodshed and the collapse of fragile ceasefire.
On Monday, June 30, the rebel movement called the strike “barbaric” and alleged it was part of an ethnic cleansing effort. The plane was targeted while it was transporting aid to Minembwe, a steep and hilly area in South Kivu Province that is home to the persecuted Banyamulenge people.
In the past, the Banyamulenge community has unsuccessfully appealed to the world community to step in and put an end to the barbaric killings that are being committed against them in Minembwe.
Lawrence Kanyuka, a spokesperson for AFC/M23, wrote on X that the plane was transporting vital humanitarian goods, like as food and medications, to a community that has been ravaged by recent violence.
In addition to causing human casualties, the rebels claimed that this horrible act, which was planned and carried out with extreme cruelty, also destroyed vital supplies.
Food rations meant for a populace devastated by violence planned by the Kinshasa authorities since April 2017 were reduced to ashes.
The attack, according to AFC/M23, is a component of a larger ethnic cleansing campaign that is aimed at the Banyamulenge population in the area.
“The Kinshasa regime continues its heinous ethnic cleansing campaign against our Banyamulenge compatriots with this latest atrocity,” Kanyuka stated. “It purposefully condemns them to prolonged suffering while energizing Minembwe’s unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
According to the rebels, Kinshasa broke the ceasefire by planning strikes alongside Congolese Wazalendo militias, Rwandan genocidal group FDLR, and Burundi soldiers (FNDB).
Established by the surviving leaders of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi, the FDLR is a terrorist organization supported by the Democratic Republic of the Congo that presents a significant security danger to neighboring Rwanda.
The newest offensives, according to the rebel organization, targeted residents in areas including Nyabiondo, Kadasomwa, Kabare, Kigogo, and Kanyola.
The insurgents denounced “the flagrant, cynical, and repeated ceasefire violation by the illegitimate Kinshasa regime, along with coordinated attacks against civilians in densely populated areas,” and they threatened to retaliate against their fellow Banyamulenge tribesmen.
