Several people have been killed during protests in Goma, eastern DRC | Opposition Articles

Clashes between protesters and police have begun in North Kivu’s provincial capital.

Several people have been killed in protests against the military in Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Rocks erupted in the streets as scores of people gathered on Monday to protest against police crackdowns and protests over the arrival of security forces from neighboring Rwanda to end the violence – which the Congolese government is protesting.

Protesters gathered on the sidewalks at dawn, building bars and burning tires. Gunfire erupted in North Kivu’s provincial capital, and police fired tear gas and firearms to disperse protesters, who were said to have stolen at least three weapons and attacked security.

“Two law enforcement officers have been killed and two seriously injured,” North Kivu’s military spokesman, General Sylvain Ekenge, told reporters. “These actions cannot go unpunished,” Ekenge said.

A community leader and police who asked not to be named told AFP reporters that one of the protesters had been shot while riding a motorcycle. Mario Ngavho, president of the Civil Society in Goma, told Reuters that two civilians had been killed and six injured on Monday.

The main market center in the city was closed, as well as banks and schools, following calls for closure to protest the growing crime in the city.

Many in Goma are also tired of the high level of violence in various parts of North Kivu and Ituri districts, prompting government officials in May to declare “the state of the environment“, and the military is replacing civil servants in senior positions.

But the ongoing violence has raised questions about whether the system is working and protesters have called for a city re-examination.

The protesters also said they were “strongly opposed to allowing Rwandan police to enter Goma” the two countries last week signed an anti-trafficking agreement.

“We will not support the arrival of Rwandan police in Goma. What is he hiding from us? said Paluku Issa, one of the protesters.

But DRC government officials say Rwandan military charges against Goma are untrue.

Ekenge’s spokesman said: “The presence of Rwandan police in Goma is taking place in the minds of traffickers and fraudsters, as well as people of superstition, who are ready to perpetuate any propaganda,” said Ekenge, who is a military spokesman. sir.

The relationship between the two countries has been strained for the past 30 years, with Rwanda blaming the DRC for providing land to the Hutu who carried out the 1994 coup in Rwanda.

Rwanda later became one of the neighboring countries that took over the DRC during a series of civil wars.

Many Goma residents are skeptical of a recently signed agreement, fearing it could destabilize Rwanda in the eastern part of the DRC.

“We do not want Rwandans in our country,” said Tommy Mashauri.

Earlier this month, DRC introduced Armed with Uganda with at least 1,700 Ugandan soldiers passed through eastern DRC to fight the Allied Democratic Forces, which are known to be the deadliest of the many militias roaming the mineral-rich region.