Feb 3 (Reuters) - The leader of the AFC/M23 rebel movement in Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting the airport serving the strategic northeastern city of Kisangani, describing it as a warning to the government.
Eight explosive-laden drones were launched at the airport over the weekend, but were shot down before reaching their target, the provincial government said.
The airport lies about 17 km (10 miles) from central Kisangani, hundreds of kilometres from the front lines in North and South Kivu provinces, where AFC/M23 has seized large swathes of territory since 2022, capturing the key cities of Goma and Bukavu in a lightning offensive last year.
In a statement posted on X late on Tuesday, rebel leader Corneille Nangaa said the operation in Kisangani showed that the "air superiority" of Congo's armed forces had been broken and warned that any aircraft used against rebel-held areas would now be targeted "at their source".
"The use of Kisangani as a platform for projecting terror against our territories is now prohibited. The sanctuary of this rear base is over," he said.
A spokesperson for Congo’s government and a spokesperson for the army did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
In a separate statement posted on X early Wednesday, AFC/M23 said the airport in Kisangani served as the "primary hub" for attacks on rebel positions and civilians in rebel-held areas.
AFC/M23 also said it was committed to a peaceful resolution of the war in eastern Congo and called on Kinshasa to respect a ceasefire.
PROGRESS ON CEASEFIRE MONITORING
Nangaa's statement came one day after Congo's government and AFC/M23, meeting in Doha under Qatari mediation, agreed on the deployment of the first U.N. team mandated to monitor a ceasefire.
He accused Congo's army and its allied militias of carrying out a surge of attacks in South Kivu's highlands since January 22, saying they had used Sukhoi jets and combat drones against civilians in Minembwe and surrounding areas.
Bertrand Bisimwa, another senior AFC/M23 political figure, issued a separate message on X on Tuesday saying that if Congolese military aircraft continued to operate over what the rebels call “liberated territory”, they would be “destroyed from their respective bases”.
(Reporting by Clement Bonnerot and Congo newsroom; Writing by Ayen Deng Bior, Robbie Corey-Boulet, Michael Perry and Andrew Heavens)
