Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira

On the evening of 6 April 1994, the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutu, was shot down with surface-to-air missiles as their jet prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda. The assassination set in motion the Rwandan genocide, one of the bloodiest events of the late 20th century.

Assassination of Habyarimana and Ntaryamira
A Dassault Falcon 50 similar to the one involved in the assassination
Shootdown
DateApril 6, 1994; 29 years ago (1994-04-06)
SummaryShot down by surface-to-air missiles
SitePresidential Palace gardens, Kigali, Rwanda
1.9680°S 30.1394°E / -1.9680; 30.1394
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDassault Falcon 50
Registration9XR-NN
Flight originDar es Salaam International Airport, Tanzania
StopoverKigali International Airport, Rwanda
DestinationBujumbura International Airport, Burundi
Occupants12
Passengers9
Crew3
Fatalities12
Survivors0

Responsibility for the attack is disputed, with most theories proposing as suspects either the Tutsi rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) or government-aligned Hutu Power followers opposed to negotiation with the RPF.[1]


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