The Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed that the M23 rebels may not posess the means to bring down a military helicopter, local congolese newspaper Politico reported.
On June 17, 2022, a FARDC Mi-24 helicopter was shot down by M23 rebels and crashed in Kabindi in Rutshuru territory (North Kivu).
This aircraft had participated in a bombing raid on M23 positions in Tchengerero, an area which was then under M23 control.
Inside the helicopter gunship there was a Congolese and two Georgians on board the helicopter who died instantly.
The M23 had claimed a few hours after the crash of the army helicopter, that these fighters used their RPG-7 weapons, however DRC claims it has different information that casts doubt on the M23 version.
Kinshasa refers to the latest report by UN experts, which calims that there was white smoke seen before the helicopter ignited, therefore believing that the helicopter was possibly hit by a surface-to-air missile, a type of anti-aircraft system, or a heavy machine gunner.
However, the UN experts claims were not substantive and they recommend other investigations for the precise identification of the ammunition system which hit the aircraft.
They claim in their report that the M23 do not yet have in their possession anti-aircraft systems according to the documentation on the heavy and light weapons that the M23 has.
“Thus, the Rwandan army is strongly suspected of having carried out or helped to carry out this crash,“ according to Politico.
Kinshasa has repeatedly heaped blame on Rwanda accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebellion. Rwanda vehemently denies these claims.
