“At least five dead, about 50 injured (in Goma),” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a tweet, without saying who was responsible.
At least five people were killed and about 50 injured today in anti-United Nations protests in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, a government spokesman said.
A Reuters reporter saw UN peacekeepers shoot and kill two protesters.
The violence erupted during the second day of protests against the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission over its failure to protect civilians in a region that has suffered decades of paramilitary violence.
“At least five dead, about 50 injured (in Goma),” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a tweet, without saying who was responsible.
Hundreds of protesters attacked and looted a MONUSCO warehouse in Goma yesterday, Monday, demanding the mission’s withdrawal from the country, and protests broke out again today.
A Reuters reporter at the scene said the blue-collar fighters fired tear gas and live bullets at the mostly peaceful crowd, killing two and injuring at least two others.
The army and police deployed to the scene did not open fire. A soldier and a policeman wearing bulletproof vests were also hit by bullets, he added.
A MONUSCO spokesman was not available for comment.
The mission has been phased out in recent years.
Clashes between soldiers and the M23 rebel group in the eastern part of the country have led to the displacement of thousands of people. Attacks by militants linked to the Islamic State group also continue, despite a state of emergency declared a year ago and joint operations against them by the DR Congo and Ugandan armies.
MONUSCO — the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — succeeded an earlier peacekeeping operation in 2010.
As of November 2021, it had over 12,000 soldiers and 1,600 police in DR Congo.
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