Chaos as Drone Drops Bomb at Goma Airport

A suspected enemy drone on Saturday morning dropped a bomb at Goma International Airport in North Kivu, eastern Congo, paralyzing air transport.

Congolese officials said the incident occurred at around 2:00 a.m.

Air traffic resumed later in the day.

North Kivu Province Military spokesperson, Lt. Colonel Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko, accused Rwanda of masterminding the drone attack.

“Rwanda’s armed forces attacked Goma airport with drones,” said Lt Col Ndjike during a press conference in Goma on Saturday, adding that “the attack targeted the aircraft of the Congolese armed forces, but the projectiles instead hit and damaged civilian aircraft.”

Lt. Col. Ndjike did not provide evidence linking Rwanda to the attack.

Some unconfirmed reports indicated that the drone attack damaged one of the Russian-made Sukhoi-25 jets used by Congolese forces to bomb territories controlled by M23 rebels.

Goma International Airport operates about 108 flights on 12 different routes from the airport, connecting to 10 different destinations in 5 different countries, such as Kinshasa, Entebbe, Congo, and Beni.

The facility serves as a vital link to connecting North Kivu to rest of the country and supporting the ongoing peace consolidation efforts.

This is the first time Rwanda is said to be employing drones in attacks on DRC territory.

DRC forces have been using combat drones to attack M23’s bases in North Kivu.

Earlier this week, DRC used Sukhoi jets to block columns of M23 rebels from advancing towards the strategic city of Sake, about 27 kilometers from Goma.

Today’s drone attack in Goma signals an escalation of the shadowy armed conflict between the DRC and Rwanda.

The incident occurred at a time when Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, were meeting at a mini-summit on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Ethiopia.

On Friday, Tshisekedi told AU leaders he would not hold any talks with M23 rebels, whom he said were backed by Rwanda.

Earlier today (Saturday), Angolan leader Joao Lourenco met separately with Kagame and Tshisekedi and promised to continue his mediation in Luanda with each of the antagonists.