Several killed amid unrest in DR Congo

SEVERAL people died in a second day of violence in DR Congo yesterday, with three opposition HQ buildings torched in a fresh bout of clashes between police and opponents of President Joseph Kabila.

The renewed violence came after a bloody day on Monday during which opposition groups said more than 50 people had died in protests calling for Kabila’s resignation. The national secretary of the main opposition group blamed a “commando” unit from the regime for torching the opposition headquarters buildings. ”Does a normal state respond with repris- als?” said Felix Tshisekedi from the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). At least two burnt bodies could be seen in the fire-ravaged UDPS offices. Two others were burned alive and another injured, AFP journalists said.

By early morning, the flames were dying down at the other two headquarters buildings – belonging to the Forces of Union and Solidarity and the Lumumbist Progressive Movement in Kinshasa.

Monday’s violence started just before an opposition rally by demonstrators who fear Kabila is planning to extend his rule unconstitutionally.

Kabila’s mandate ends on December 20 and although the constitution bans him from running again, he has made no effort to schedule elections, fuelling fears he will attempt to cling on to power.

The government put the toll from Monday’s violence at 17 but warned it could rise. The opposition said security forces fired live ammunition into protesters.

Jose Maria Arnaz, the director of the Joint Office of the United Nations for Human Rights in DR Congo, inspected the UDPS office to “investigate” the fire.