The Rwanda government said a fighter jet from the Democratic Republic of Congo violated its airspace on Tuesday as tensions rise between the neighbours.
Kinshasa denied one of its aircraft had flown over Rwanda, and slammed Kigali for an “attack” on the jet that it said amounted to “an act of war”.
Ties are already fraught between the neighbours, with the DRC accusing Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group, which has captured swaths of Congolese territory in recent months.
Kigali denies the allegations, which are backed by UN experts, the United States, France and Belgium. In turn, it accuses Kinshasa of colluding with the FDLR — a former Rwandan Hutu rebel group based in the DRC.
“A Sukhoi-25 from the DR Congo violated Rwanda airspace for the third time,” over Rubavu district, near Goma, Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said in a statement.
“Defensive measures were taken,” she said, adding: “Rwanda asks the DRC to stop this aggression.”
The two previous cases were reported in November and December and saw protests from Kigali.
AFP journalists in the eastern DRC city of Goma heard a loud explosion followed by two shots as the Congolese aircraft flew over on Tuesday afternoon.
Video posted on social networks showed a flash close to the fighter, which landed at Goma airport.
A DRC government statement said the fighter jet was “attacked while coming into land at Goma airport”.
