In a statement released on Monday, AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka described the airstrike as an act of 'unspeakable barbarity,' claiming it was a deliberate and premeditated attack targeting a population already traumatised by years of conflict.
The group stated that the aircraft was transporting food, medicine, and other essential supplies intended for civilians in the embattled region of Minembwe.
'This heinous crime... extended beyond human casualties; it also destroyed essential supplies including medicines,' the statement read. 'It reduced to ashes food rations intended for a disaster-stricken population traumatised by violence orchestrated by the Kinshasa regime since April 2017.'
The rebel group went on to accuse the Congolese government of using the strike as part of a broader ethnic cleansing campaign against the Banyamulenge community, an ethnic minority long targeted in eastern DRC's complex conflicts.
AFC/M23 stated that the bombing was a continuation of the regime's 'vile' efforts to 'condemn [the Banyamulenge] to protracted suffering while fueling an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Minembwe.'
In addition to the bombing, the statement condemned coordinated attacks on civilians in several other areas including Kanyola, Kabare, Kigogo, Kadasomwa, and Nyabiondo. The group blamed the Congolese army and allied forces, including the Burundi National Defence Forces (FNDB), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and local militia Wazalendo, for the escalating violence.
'These targeted massacres of our compatriots Banyamulenge will not go unpunished and must stop immediately,' the communiqué concluded.
There has been no immediate response from the Congolese government regarding the allegations.
The incident threatens to unravel the fragile peace process initiated in Qatar in recent months, where Congolese officials and representatives of the rebel coalition had agreed to a ceasefire aimed at ending years of conflict in the eastern part of the country.
The AFC/M23, which controls large swathes of territory in eastern DRC following fierce battles earlier this year, now claims that the Kinshasa regime is in 'flagrant, cynical, and repeated' violation of the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the attack also comes just days after the Congolese government signed a historic peace deal with Rwanda aimed at ending a conflict that has lasted for three decades, exacerbated by the Kinshasa administration's continued collaboration with the FDLR militia, which is linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
