Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo fired tear gas on Monday to disperse protesters who were burning tires and U.S. and Belgian flags near Western embassies and United Nations offices in the capital Kinshasa, angered by insecurity in eastern Congo. .
Demonstrators, who have adopted a new tactic of targeting embassies, claim that Western countries are supporting neighboring Rwanda. Rwanda is accused of supporting the Tutsi-led M23 rebellion, which is threatening the strategic city of Goma in the east.
Rwanda denies the accusations. Western governments including Congo, the United States and Belgium, as well as a United Nations group of experts, say the rebels are benefiting from Rwandan support.
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A group of demonstrators attacked the embassies of the United States and France and the offices of the UN mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, despite heightened security following attacks on UN staff and vehicles on Saturday. gathered at the place.
Some threw rocks and tried to destroy surveillance cameras at the US embassy, while others shouted: “Get out of the country, we don’t want your hypocrisy.”
Demonstrators protest against Western partnerships in front of the MONUSCO mission headquarters in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on February 12, 2024. (Reuters/Justin Makangara)
“Westerners are behind the plundering of our country. They must leave our country because Rwanda cannot function alone,” said protester Pepin Mbindu.
Onlookers cheered as one of the protesters removed the EU flag from the entrance of a large hotel in central Kinshasa, according to a video shared on X. Reuters has not authenticated the video.
“Congolese people are being killed and the international community is silent. They are giving money to Rwanda,” said Fabrice Malumba, a motorcyclist who took part in a demonstration in front of the US embassy. Ta.
Police fired tear gas and chased protesters.
Congo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula met with ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions in Kinshasa on Sunday. He said security measures would be put in place to protect their expression.
“As you can see, we are ensuring the security of our partner embassies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in accordance with the Vienna Convention,” Kinshasa police chief General Blaise Mbula Kirimba Limba told Reuters.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than seven million displaced in eastern Congo after decades of conflict between numerous rival armed groups over land and resources and brutal attacks on civilians.
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Congo is the world’s largest supplier of cobalt and Africa’s largest copper producer.
