Congo military plane crash kills 14, including two senior generals

At least 14 people were killed when a Congolese military aircraft crashed in the town of Kenge, the armed forces said, in one of the deadliest air accidents to hit the country's military in recent months.

Among the dead were two senior officers: Lieutenant General Mutombo Katalayi Tiende, who headed the military court, and Lieutenant General Bakumi Likulia, the auditor general of the armed forces.

Major General Efomi Ekenge, a spokesperson for the Congolese military, said in a statement that the two general officers were travelling alongside twelve members of a delegation and crew members, all of whom lost their lives in the accident.

The plane was on its way back to the capital, Kinshasa, from the southwestern city of Kikwit when it developed a technical fault and went down in Kenge, according to local officials. Everyone on board was killed.

An investigation has been opened to establish what caused the crash, Ekenge said. Tryphon Kin-Kiey Mulumba, chairman of the board of the Civil Aviation Authority, said the cause was not yet known.

The crash comes as the Congolese military continues to fight numerous rebel groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23 movement in the eastern part of the country, after a series of attacks that allowed the rebels to seize key cities.