On 6 April 1994 , Rwandan President Habyarimana 's plane was shot down near Kigali Airport , killing both Habyarimana and the President of Burundi , Cyprien Ntaryamira , as well as their entourage and three French crew members . The attackers remain unknown . Historian Gérard Prunier , in a book written shortly after the incident , concluded that it was most likely a coup d'état carried out by extreme Hutu members of Habyarimana 's government , and was a planned part of the genocide . This theory was disputed in 2006 by French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière , and in 2008 by Spanish judge Fernando Andreu . Both alleged that Kagame and the RPF were responsible
was shot down
Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira
Paul Kagame