The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which was the scene over the past two days of violent anti-United Nations demonstrations following the fall of the eastern town of Bukavu, was paralysed on Friday by a total lack of public transport.
The capital’s streets and avenues were packed with people trying to get around the city on foot.
In the west of the city security forces were trying to stop a group of anti-UN demonstrators who were determined to march on the Kinshasa headquarters of the world body’s mission in the DRC, Monuc, witnesses said.
The capital has seen anti-UN demonstrations since Wednesday, the day Bukavu was captured, without resistance from UN peacekeepers stationed there.
On Thursday, three people were killed when guards at a UN warehouse in eastern Kinshasa opened fire on looters, and anti-UN demonstrations rocked several other cities around the vast country.
President Joseph Kabila made a televised appeal for calm on Thursday evening.
Passengers who had arrived on Thursday at Kinshasa’s international airport were still blocked there on Friday, airport sources said, specifically citing South African Airways and Kenya Airways flights.
No flights had taken off from or landed at the airport on Friday, they said. — Sapa-AFP