DRC Military Shoots Down Mystery Plane, M23 Cries War Crime

Congo's army shot down a mystery plane that flew into their territory without permission. The military caught the aircraft on radar as it headed toward a war zone on Monday. Soldiers discovered the plane had no registration numbers or identification marks anywhere on it. Army officials said the aircraft broke international aviation rules and threatened national security. General Sylvain Ekenge Bomusa Efomi signed the official statement defending the military action.

Rebel fighters from M23 told a different story about what happened that day. The group claimed Congo bombed a humanitarian aircraft carrying food and medicine to displaced people. M23 leaders said the plane was bringing supplies to Banyamulenge communities near Minembwe. They called the incident a war crime and accused the government of ethnic cleansing. The rebels promised to fight back against what they saw as an attack on civilians.

The shootdown could destroy the peace agreement signed just three days earlier. American diplomats had helped broker the deal between Congo and Rwanda to stop fighting. Congo's military said they had to protect their airspace from unknown threats. The army reported the incident to civil and military authorities right away. Both sides tell completely different versions of what the mysterious aircraft was doing over eastern Congo.