KINSHASA: Congolese soldiers repulsed attacks on the airport, a barracks and the state television headquarters in Kinshasa yesterday in what authorities said appeared to have been an assault by followers of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila.
Before transmission was shut down at the state television, gunmen shouted what appeared to be a political message against President Joseph Kabila, who took office in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende said 40 of the 70 assailants in the capital had been killed. “We have total control of the situation,” he said.
“The attackers presented themselves as supporters of Mukungubila. We are checking because this could be an attempt to fool us.” He said there were no civilian or troop casualties.
Kabila’s supporters said the assault was carried out by poorly organised youths in civilian clothing with aged military equipment and appeared to be more a political statement than a serious attempt to seize power in a city of more than nine million people.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, a vast country at the heart of Africa, is struggling to emerge from decades of violence and instability, particularly in its mineral-rich east, in which millions of people have died, mostly from hunger and disease. The country is home to a 21,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO).
Shortly after the clashes in Kinshasa, Congo’s army exchanged heavy fire with Mukungubila’s followers in the mining province of Katanga, more than 2,400km to the southeast near the border with Zambia.
Witnesses said the fighting erupted after soldiers attacked Mukungubila’s church in the regional capital Lubumbashi, but calm was quickly restored.
Gunmen had briefly seized the headquarters of state radio and television in Kinshasa, taking several journalists hostage. Witnesses also reported shooting at the Tshatshi military camp, close to the Defence Ministry, and at the international airport on the city’s outskirts.
Reuters
