Posted December 31, 2013 09:29:16
More than 70 rebels and three soldiers have been killed in clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government says.
Congolese troops killed dozens of armed youths who attacked the airport, a military barracks and state television headquarters in the capital Kinshasa on Monday.
Before transmission was shut down at the state television station, the attackers shouted slogans in favour of pastor Paul Joseph Mukungubila and against president Joseph Kabila.
The broadcaster reported that security forces had killed 46 of the attackers, while government officials said about 20 more had been arrested.
Government spokesman Lambert Mende said: "It (the toll) has increased. More than 70 attackers were killed, including around 50 in Kinshasa".
Gunmen briefly seized the headquarters of state radio and television in Kinshasa just before 8.00am local time, taking several journalists hostage.
Witnesses also reported shooting at the Tshatshi Military Camp, close to the defence ministry, and at the international airport.
Some flights were diverted to Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, on the other side of the Congo river.
Shortly after the clashes, soldiers in the eastern mining province of Katanga attacked a church run by Mr Mukungubila, a self-proclaimed prophet who has railed against Mr Kabila's decision to make peace with Tutsi rebels in eastern Congo, saying the president was under the influence of Rwanda.
Witnesses said the fighting in the regional capital Lubumbashi quickly subsided. Security forces found arms and ammunition in the church, according to sources.
"We have total control of the situation," said Mr Mende.
Government officials said the assault in Kinshasa was carried out by untrained youths in civilian clothes with aged military equipment and appeared to be more a political statement than an attempt to seize power in the riverside city of more than 9 million people.
Some analysts in Kinshasa said the attacks could be linked to Mr Kabila's recent decision to replace national police chief John Numbi, a powerful political figure from Katanga, with Charles Bisengimana, an ethnic Tutsi.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is struggling to emerge from decades of violence and instability in which millions of people have died, mostly from hunger and disease.
A 21,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission is stationed in the country.
AFP/Reuters
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