Goma, DR Congo, Nov 5 (AFP/APP):One person was killed and government and police service offices set on fire on Friday in a city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by residents angry at kidnappings, an official said.
“All the state service offices were set on fire by people here in Kirumba. I arrived and found all the offices burned down. There was one death,” Donat Mandongo, military administrator of Lubero territory in North Kivu province, told AFP.
“The offices of the mayor, the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), the police headquarters and several other state buildings, as well as administrative documents have been reduced to ashes,” said Gustave Muhindo, youth president in Lubero Territory.
Residents of the commercial hub have staged demonstrations this week in protest at the failure of local authorities to stop the kidnappings.
“The admission of an officer made to the demonstrators that the army could do nothing”, to halt the abductions triggered these demonstrations, Muhindo said.
Several armed groups are known to operate from Kirumba while North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province have been under a “state of siege” since May, in a bid to step up a military offensive against the rebels.
President Felix Tshisekedi replaced civilian authorities there with army and police officers.
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