The shells picked up on the ground by the inhabitants of Goma clearly show that it was a 20 mm cannon of DCA (Defense Against Aircraft) that fired on the Congolese fighter plane.
However, an anti-aircraft gun 20 millimeters in diameter, with a maximum range of 3 km cannot reach its objective from Rwanda or even from Rutshuru (DRC)!
Any expertise or military investigation will show that the attempt to shoot down the Congolese military plane was made in situ, in Goma and probably around the airport, the only place where the anti-aircraft guns are stationed.
For having been trained in NATO to shoot at aircraft with the same 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, I confirm that a 20 mm cannon can only hit an aircraft at 3 places or times:
– either on takeoff
– either on landing, therefore in both cases from Goma airport
– or when the plane descends lower to bombard a target on the ground, for example.
Military and strategic conclusions:
- If Kagame tried to shoot down the Congolese military fighter plane, he would probably have operated on Congolese territory and around Goma. For this, he would have used either Rwandan soldiers or infiltrated in the FARDC, or a commando.
- We cannot accuse the international forces (UN or Kenyan communities) stationed in Goma and the surrounding area, without proof. The anti-aircraft weapons equipped with the various international or UN or even African community forces on duty in Goma and the surrounding area must be confronted with ballistic expertise to find out whether the prints of the shells collected on the ground in the theater of this operation correspond to the anti-aircraft guns which provide these international intervention troops. Hence the need for a national military inquiry.
- This attack demonstrates to excess that Paul Kagame has the human, logistical and material means to shoot down any civilian or military plane taking off in Goma or elsewhere in the DRC, as he would have shot down the plane of the late Habyarimana.
President Félix must be wary because Kagame indirectly gave him a warning that he has the means to shoot down Fatshi’s plane on landing or taking off. Nothing excludes that this life-size test is an indication that Kagame acquired anti-aircraft weapons in response to the purchase of fighter planes by the FARDC. KAGAME could even acquire a very long range surface-to-air missile, this time allowing it to shoot down any plane in the DRC.
