AFRICA/CONGO DR - Calm in Kinshasa after an attempted attack on the Head of State's residence

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – Congolese authorities have arrested about 30 people in the ranks of the security forces after two simultaneous attacks on Sunday, 27 February on the residence of President Joseph Kabila, in the district of Gombe, and the Kokolo military camp in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to official sources, the two groups of assailants consisted of at least a hundred men armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers as well as bows and arrows. These men would have arrived by boat from nearby Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, which is separated from Kinshasa by the River Congo. During the shooting ten of the attackers were killed and thirty were arrested. According to the Congolese daily newspaper “Le Potentiel”, between Sunday, 27 February and Monday, 28, the authorities arrested about thirty people from the security forces and the military, accusing them of being implicated in the plot.
“Kinshasa is calm,” a source of the Church in Kinshasa reports to Fides. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has called the ambassadors to explain that Kinshasa is absolutely safe and there is no reason to be afraid.”
This position was affirmed in a statement issued after the special session of the Supreme Defence Council, chaired by President Kabila on 28 February, and reiterated by the Minister for Communications, Lambert Mende, in interviews to the local media. The authorities have announced that security measures have been strengthened in view of the campaign launch for the presidential elections in November. The identity of the assailants has not been officially confirmed. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 1/3/2011)