DR Congo Police Tear-Gassed Protesters Targeting Embassies
Riot police are cracking down on a small number of protesters who are sporadically grouping outside foreign embassies in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
The demonstrators accuse Western diplomats of being accomplices to Rwanda, which they accuse of backing the M23 rebel group that is destabilizing the east of DR Congo.
Rwanda has consistently denied the allegation.
Dozens of police officers are standing guard outside the UK, US and French embassies.
International schools and shops run by foreign nationals have remained closed this morning in the Gombe district of Kinshasa for fear of being targeted by protesters.
A handful of protesters are roaming the area and burning car tires, and the American and Belgian flags.
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At a meeting with affected parties on Sunday, DR Congo’s Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula promised to keep UN peacekeepers, western diplomats, and Western embassies safe.
In the last fortnight alone, more than 100,000 people have had to flee their homes because of renewed fighting between Congolese government forces and the M23.
On Saturday, the UN, which has a peacekeeping force in eastern DR Congo, said several of its vehicles were set alight and ransacked.
A shop belonging to French broadcaster Canal+ was destroyed by demonstrators, while social media videos showed plumes of dark smoke rising above the city.
At a meeting on Sunday, DR Congo’s Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula gave Western diplomats and UN officials an assurance that the government will protect them.
Over the past fortnight, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes in eastern DR Congo’s Masisi region to seek refuge in the major city of Goma, following deadly attacks by the M23 rebels.
The M23 is now advancing towards Goma, home to around two million people.
