UN troops kill two as mob storms Congo base

UN troops shot and killed two protesters as angry mobs stormed their base in Congo’s capital Kinshasa today.

Massive crowds had taken to the streets to protests at the fall of an eastern border city to a rebel army.

The killings came as tens of thousands surged across Kinshasa, targeting UN forces for what they said was the international body’s failure to stop yesterday’s fall of Bukavu.

Mobs broke down the main door at the UN logistical base, outside the city centre, said UN Congo mission spokesman Hamadoun Toure.

“They entered, and there were very many of them,” Toure said. “They began to loot.

“For reasons of legitimate self-defence, they shot,” Toure said of the UN forces guarding the building.

One other person was wounded by gunfire.

“We regret this deeply because our mission was to establish peace in the country but we were left with no choice,” the UN spokesman said.

The deaths were the first reported in what was the largest demonstration in Kinshasa since the 1997 overthrow of long-time dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, leading Africa’s third-largest country into its 1998-2002 civil war.