Nine killed in Kasai clashes in DR Congo

Kananga, DR Congo | AFP | Two days of unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s southern opposition stronghold of Kasai have left nine people dead, local sources said on Tuesday.

The anti-government Kamwina Nsapu militia “killed four people Monday in the village of Bata Ishama” in Kasai province, local administrator Jacopo Pembe Longo told AFP.

The same militia, wearing red headbands and armed with rifles and machetes, on Tuesday “killed five other people in Kakenge”, a village some 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Bata Ishama, Longo said.

Local priest Wilfrid Imboyo told AFP the fighters had also “set fire to a hospital and more than 30 houses”.

He added local people sought refuge inside the church during the clashes.

Violence broke out in Kasai in September 2016 following the killing by soldiers of tribal chieftain Kamwina Nsapu, the figurehead of a rebellion against the central government in Kinshasa over moves by President Joseph Kabila to prolong his stay in power.

More than 3,000 people have died in the region since then, with some 1.4 million displaced.