DR Congo: authorities call for calm after drone attacks on airport

Drones targeted a strategic airport in the city of Kisangani in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo over the weekend, the provincial government said Monday.

No claim of responsibility has been made for the drone attack but local authorities accuse the armed M23 anti-governmental group and its ally Rwanda of being behind it.

The explosive drones carrying munitions targeted the airport between Saturday and Sunday, the Tshopo provincial government said in a statement seen by AFP.

"Eight enemy drones were neutralised before reaching their target," it said.

No casualties have been reported.

On Monday, security around the airport was reinforced, according to witnesses who spoke to AFP by phone. The local airline, CAA, which operates domestic flights to Kisangani several times a week, had not announced any cancellations.

The resource-rich east of the DRC, which borders Rwanda as well as Burundi, has been plagued by 30 years of violence that has drawn in several foreign powers.

In recent years, the resurgence of the M23 group has left thousands dead and triggered a spiralling humanitarian crisis. Since taking up arms again at the end of 2021, the M23 has seized swathes of the Congolese east with Rwanda's help, taking the key cities of Goma and Bukavu in a lightning offensive a year ago.

In early December, M23 fighters carried out a new offensive on the town of Uvira on the Burundi border, as the DRC and Rwanda were formalising a US-brokered peace deal. Kisangani, a city of more than 1.5 million inhabitants on the banks of the Congo River, is largely dependent on its airport due to the poor state of the roads. The civilian airport is also used by the Congolese army and its aircraft.

The runway is used for the take-off of army attack drones and fighter jets, which regularly carry out strikes on positions of the M23 militia and the Rwandan army, more than 400 kilometres (around 250 miles) from Kisangani. Explosions echoed around the airport until 2:00 am on Sunday, prompting some residents to flee, according to witnesses.

"I couldn't stand the explosions during the night," said a resident, who headed for the city centre about 20km from the airport.

The provincial government said Monday that "the situation is under control" and local people living around the airport could go home.