Congo unrest ends with official death toll at 32

Two days of clashes between police, opponents of President saw people burnt alive

Police in DR Congo said on Wednesday that 32 people had been killed during two days of clashes in the capital Kinshasa this week, while the opposition said more than three times that number had died.

The wildly divergent figures were released as security forces brought the wave of violence and looting to an end.

Clashes between police and opponents of President Joseph Kabila on Monday and Tuesday saw people burnt alive, and attacks on police positions, but the worst unrest in the capital since January 2015 appeared to have fizzled out on Wednesday.

“The national police was backed by members of the (army) to stop the acts of looting and vandalism,” police spokesman Pierre-Rombaut MwanaMputu told reporters.

Traffic in the capital was lighter than usual on Wednesday and many schoolchildren remained at home. But residents were back on the streets, some inspecting shops and other buildings that were pillaged or gutted by fires.

The official death toll is far below the figure of over 100 given by the opposition, but broadly in line with the number given by Human Rights Watch, which put the toll at 37.

UN peacekeeping force

The UN, which has deployed its biggest peacekeeping force in DR Congo, mostly in the troubled east, was cautious about the figures. “There are many people who were killed,” Jose Maria Aranaz, who heads the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO), told reporters.

The UN Security Council Wednesday called for calm and pressed for “credible elections” to be held.

Opposition groups had organised demonstrations on Monday to demand the resignation of Kabila, who has ruled since 2001 and, under the constitution, should step down on December 20.

Both sides traded blame the violence that erupted.

In a statement, the presidency accused the opposition of having transformed the event into “bloody riots” while a spokesman for the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), Bruno Tshibala, described the unrest as a “fire” planned by a “bloodthirsty power”. for

AFP A woman cries as she attends a Catholic mass in Kinshasa on Wednesday, held to mourn victims of the violent clashes of the last few days that left scores dead.

Reuters People walk past a house and vehicles burnt during protests in DR Congo capital Kinshasa on Wednesday. The official death toll is far below the figure of over 100 given by the opposition.