Nine people were killed in clashes in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Bukavu early on Wednesday after an incursion by unidentified gunmen, authorities and the army said.
Gunfire was heard in several areas of the city from around 1:45 a.m., but the fighting appeared to have stopped by the afternoon, according to local residents and a Reuters witness.
“Thugs and uncivilized people disturbed the peace of our fellow citizens in some areas of the city of Bukavu,” South Kivu province’s governor Theo Kasi in a statement.
Security forces killed six gunmen and captured 36 others, while one member of the police and two soldiers were also killed, he said.
More than 120 rebel groups continue to operate across large swathes of eastern Congo since the official end of the civil wars in 2003.
“Some of them wanted to attack the military camp to loot the ammunition, the army prevented them,” Kilubi told Radio Maendeleo, a Bukavu-based radio station.
Source: Reuters
