Publish Date: 3 November 2021 - 22:15

TEHRAN, Nov. 03 (MNA) – Nine people were killed in clashes in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Bukavu early on Wednesday after an incursion by unidentified gunmen, authorities and the army said.

Gunfire was heard in several areas of the city from around 1:45 a.m., but the fighting appeared to have stopped by the afternoon, Reuters reported.

“Thugs and uncivilized people disturbed the peace of our fellow citizens in some areas of the city of Bukavu,” South Kivu province’s governor Theo Kasi in a statement.

Security forces killed six gunmen and arrested 36 others, while one member of the police and two soldiers were also killed, he said.

The city was last convulsed by fighting in November 2017, when the army clashed with troops loyal to a renegade general.

One policeman and two Congolese soldiers were also killed in the clashes.

It should be noted that Bukavu city has been the scene of intermittent clashes between Congolese and paramilitary forces since 2017.

MA/PR