Accessibility links

Breaking News

Assailants Attack Main Market in Congo's Capital, Killing 2

update

Blood is visible outside the office of the administrator of the Central Market in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, July 14, 2017, after an attack by a band of men wielding knives and guns.
Blood is visible outside the office of the administrator of the Central Market in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, July 14, 2017, after an attack by a band of men wielding knives and guns.

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo say a group of men armed with guns and knives attacked the capital's main market, killing at least two people and wounding six police officers.

A police spokesman, Pierrot Mwanamputu, said unidentified assailants killed the administrator of Kinshasa's central market, as well as a police officer. He said six other officers were seriously injured in the attack and taken to a nearby hospital.

The spokesman said the situation is now under control and one of the attackers has been arrested.

Shops and businesses at the market were closed as dozens of soldiers and police officers were deployed in trucks to patrol the area.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Militia violence has been increasing in Congo in recent months, including a series of attacks on police stations and prisons. In May, Christian sect members of Bundu Dia Mayala stormed Kinshasa's main prison, freeing their leader and scores of others.

Insecurity has grown in the country since President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down when his mandate ended last December.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG