Congolese security forces kill six while dispersing anti-Kabila protest
KINSHASA - Congolese security forces shot dead at least six people and wounded dozens more as they fired tear gas to disperse a protest against President Joseph Kabila organised by the Catholic Church on Sunday, a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country said.
Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his mandate in December 2016 has triggered a series of street protests in which scores have been killed in Kinshasa. It has also emboldened armed rebel groups in different parts of the country.
A Reuters witness saw police and paramilitary troops fire volleys of tear gas and shoot into the air on Sunday outside the Notre Dame cathedral in the capital Kinshasa.
Florence Marchal, spokeswoman for the U.N. mission (MONUSCO), also said 57 people were wounded and dozens of arrests had been made across the country.
As well as Kinshasa, protests erupted in the central Congolese diamond-mining town of Mbuji-Mayi, in the eastern cities of Goma, Lubumbashi and several other places.
A police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The instability has stoked fears that the vast, mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo could slide back into the wars that killed millions in the 1990s, mostly from hunger and disease.
The chief of police for Kinshasa city, General Sylvano Kasongo Kitenge, had warned in a statement overnight that the protest was banned and that “no attempt to disturb public order will be will be tolerated anywhere in Kinshasa.”
The violence echoed that of New Year’s Eve, when Congolese forces killed at least seven people in the capital during a protest by Catholic activists.
Under a deal mediated by the church between Kabila and his opponents, the president was to step down at the end of last year, paving the way for an election early this year. But he reneged on the deal and the poll has been repeatedly delayed - it is currently loosely scheduled for the end of 2018.