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Demonstrators, police clash in DR Congo capital Kinshasa

The protesters also blocked several embassies, including those of the United States and France, in protest against the lack of any actions by their government against rebels

PRETORIA, January 28. /TASS/. Clashes between the police and demonstrators in support for the Congolese army fighting against rebels in northern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and against the policy of neighboring Rwanda were reported from the DRC capital city Kinshasa on Tuesday.

According to the Congolese Okapi radio station, the demonstrators blocked several streets in Kinshasa with burning tires. The police used force to clear the roads. The biggest clashes occurred on a highway linking the city center to the international airport. No data on casualties is available as of yet.

The protesters also blocked several embassies, including those of the United States and France, in protest against the lack of any actions by their government against rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) group who, with the support from the Rwandan army, have seized the city of Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province. According to Reuters, the demonstrators attacked the embassy of Uganda, which is believed to be supportive of rebel groups operating in the DRC’s eastern provinces.

According to the Congolese Actualite news portal, Kinshasa is totally paralyzed, with many roads being blocked by demonstrators, schools and shops being closed. The situation in the city is tense.

The DRC presidential administration has announced that President Felix Tshisekedi will come out with an address to the nation on the current situation in the east of the country within hours.

Fighting between the DRC army and M23 rebels is ongoing in the city of Goma, the capital city of the North Kivu province. The Congolese army, backed by Wazalendo militias, is holding part of the strategic positions in the city. Peacekeepers from the United Nations and Southern African Development Community (SADC) missions are defending the international airport.

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been smoldering for decades. After the Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, and the defeat in the civil war in 1993, part of the Rwandan government army, mostly the Hutu, retreated to Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they came into conflict with the local Tutsi, the Banyamulenge. After the Tutsi came to power in Rwanda, it came in support for the Banyamulenge. Eventually, the Banyamulenge were joined by Congolese separatists and deserters from the Congolese army to form the M23 group in 2012. Rebel groups, composed primarily of the Tutsi, plunged into hostilities in the east of the DRC in January 2021 and by now they have seized several cities and more than 100 villages in the North Kivu province.

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