Incumbent President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner of Congo’s tense decider election, defeating his ex-rebel leader rival in the war-torn country’s first multi-party contest in more than 40 years.

Fighters loyal to rival candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential elections clashed in the capital, with bursts of gunfire and exploding mortars.

Heavy gunfire erupted in Kinshasa this morning around the home of Congo’s top presidential challenger, a day after fighters trapped diplomats who had to be evacuated by UN peacekeepers.