Congolese army claims Rwanda, M23 bombing eastern DRC, but Kigali terms allegations 'ridiculous'

The Congolese military accused the Rwandan army and M23 rebels of launching deadly bombs from Rwanda into parts of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in the latest allegations Kigali dismissed as “ridiculous” on Sunday.

The Congolese military said in a statement late on Saturday that the Rwandan army and the AFC/M23 rebels intensified artillery bombing from Bugarama in Rwanda, targeting densely populated Congolese localities on the Kamanyola-Uvira axis since last Thursday.

It said this occurred as Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi signed in Washington a peace agreement brokered by the US.

“The situation is serious and the crime is heinous. Several Congolese civilians have been killed,” Major General Sylvain Ekenge, the military spokesperson, said in the statement, calling it “Kigali’s determination to sabotage any peace process” despite the commitments made under the US peace accord.

Rwanda dismisses DRC's claims

He said the bombing also destroyed several schools, health centres and civilian homes.

Rwanda is accused of backing M23 rebels, a claim Kigali has consistently denied.

Kinshasa and M23 signed the Declaration of Principles ceasefire deal in July in Doha. But fighting continues between government forces and the M23 rebels.

Contacted by Anadolu for a comment on the latest claims on Sunday, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe dismissed the accusations as an attempt to shift blame.

Truce signed in the US

The Congolese army “has been bombing M23 positions and Banyamulenge villages with fighter jets and attack drones amid a rise of hate speech,” he said, adding that trying to shift blame is really “ridiculous.”

Last Thursday, during the signing ceremony, Trump said they had committed to “stopping decades of violence and bloodshed and beginning a new era of harmony and cooperation between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.”

Rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, in a post on US social media company X on Saturday, claimed their compatriots were killed, particularly in Mutarule, Luvungi, and Kamanyola, in a bombing by the coalition forces of the Kinshasa government on Friday.

Local media reported clashes between M23 and government forces continued on Sunday in Masisi territory in North Kivu province.

Thousands displaced

The locality of Luvungi in Uvira territory, in South Kivu, reportedly came under the rebel control on Saturday, after two days of intensified fighting.

The fighting has displaced thousands of people in eastern DR Congo. Roughly 1,000 Congolese nationals fleeing the new clashes crossed into neighbouring Rwanda last week, Anadolu understands.