On Friday, Rwanda stated that it has evidence of a major attack that the Democratic Republic of Congo was planning to launch against it and reiterated its denial of involvement in the conflicts occurring beyond its borders.
According to Reuters, Kigali and Kinshasa have repeatedly accused each other of being behind the resurgence of insecurity in eastern Congo, where the M23 rebels recently captured the capital of North Kivu province, Goma, and are now expanding their operations into South Kivu.
Rwanda’s ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, James Ngango, told an urgent meeting of the council:
“We strongly reject the DRC’s attempt to portray Rwanda as the cause of insecurity in eastern DRC.”
He continued:
“What is clear, however, is that the current situation poses a serious security threat to Rwanda. Following the capture of Goma, new evidence emerged indicating a large-scale attack was being planned against Rwanda,” he said, adding that Kinshasa and its allies had stockpiled weapons at and near Goma’s airport.
Ambassador Ngango further stated:
“The weapons were not meant to disarm M23. Instead, they were specifically aimed at Rwanda.”
He added that these weapons included rockets, kamikaze drones (suicide drones meant to inflict maximum damage on the enemy), and long-range artillery.
Reuters noted that it remains unclear whether diplomats still see this as a serious concern or if M23 has neutralized the threat.
