Clashes between government troops and former rebel soldiers erupted in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) city of Bukavu and at least four people have been killed, United Nations officials said on Thursday.
A foreigner working for the UN was also wounded in the leg by a stray bullet, said Sebastien Lapierre, a UN spokesperson in the lakeside town on the Rwandan border. The foreigner’s nationality was not immediately known.
UN peacekeepers in Bukavu sent armoured cars into the streets, and UN combat helicopters were patrolling the skies. But UN forces have yet to fired their weapons, said Hamadoun Toure, another UN spokesperson, in the capital, Kinshasa.
Peacekeepers are ”patrolling in all the quarters. We’re doing all we can to restore calm,” Toure said. ”It’s not necessary to open fire to restore calm.”
Fighting erupted late on Wednesday between soldiers loyal to Mbuza Mabe, the government’s commander for South Kivu province, and soldiers loyal to Jules Mutebuzi, a former commander of the ex-rebel group the Congolese Rally for Democracy, Toure said.
On Thursday morning, peacekeepers found the bodies of two soldiers and a local magistrate in the streets, Lapierre said.
UN Radio Okapi also reported a fourth death — a student killed by a stray bullet.
It was not clear what sparked the clashes.
The DRC was split into rival fiefdoms during 1998 to 2002 fighting that drew in the armies of half a dozen African nations and claimed an estimated three million lives, mainly through war-induced hunger and disease.
A 2002 peace deal brokered in South Africa paved the way for a transitional government that took office in July 2003, bringing former rebel leaders to the capital to take up top posts.
About 10 800 UN troops are deployed in the DRC, monitoring the peace deal and helping the government regain control of the country. Elections are scheduled for June 2005. — Sapa-AP