Protesters demanding action over the M23 rebel group’s offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have attacked several embassies in the capital, Kinshasa.
Crowds of demonstrators attacked the embassies of France, Belgium, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and the United States on Tuesday, and smoke could be seen rising from the French embassy after a fire erupted.
The protesters targeted the embassies of nations they accuse of being involved in Rwanda’s alleged support for the rebel group, which Kigali denies.
France’s foreign minister said in a post on X that the attack on the embassy was “unacceptable”. The embassy building briefly caught fire, according to Jean-Noel Barrot, who later confirmed that the blaze had been contained.
Some of the protesters burned tires and clashed with the police as a result of police use tear gas to disperse them.
A riotous mob of rioters protesting the violent conflict in Eastern DRC, according to Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi, “Kenya is deeply concerned by the attacks on our Embassy offices and personnel in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“The violent attacks, looting, and destruction of property are a grave violation of international law”, he added.
Patrick Muyaya, the DRC’s communications minister, urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully and refrain from violent against the accrediting consular infrastructure in a statement released on national television. Later, he claimed that the situation was under control.
Rebels enter Goma
Goma, the largest city in North Kivu province in eastern DRC, was claimed by the March 23 Movement (M23) on Monday.
At least 17 UN peacekeepers have been killed in the conflict since last week, including three South African peacekeepers who were killed on Monday when the rebels attacked the airport in Goma.
In the eastern DRC, M23 is one of the hundreds of armed organizations attempting to control important mineral mines.
Rwanda is accused of supporting the M23 rebels by the UN, the DRC, and a number of other nations. Rwanda has consistently denied the allegation.
The organization, which is made up of Tutsi fighters, claims to be fighting for the rights of the minority Tutsi population in the DRC. It emerged in 2012 after a group from the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) broke away, complaining of ill-treatment.
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from Nairobi, said that many people in the DRC believe that Rwanda and Uganda, whose embassies were attacked, have fuelled the conflict in the country’s east.
“The embassies of the Western countries, the US, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, are blamed at the very least as complicit for their military support and aid for Rwanda”, he said.
According to Webb, Congolese and allies have made more efforts to repress the rebels, and the gunfire and mortar fire in Goma has decreased.
“The hospitals are inundated with hundreds of casualties, according to the UN and hospital sources”, he noted. Many more people have been hurt in the fighting, according to those who have told them they are unable to seek medical care because the streets are not conducive to such activity.
Source: Aljazeera
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