At least 10 people have died during anti-UN protests in Butembo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The protests are against a UN peacekeeping force in the community. Police say seven of the dead were civilians while the others were UN personnel.
According to local media reporting the protesters were shot by peacekeepers, a claim that the UN office is yet to respond to.
There has been an upsurge in violence in the area with locals accusing the UN of being ineffective.
Tuesday was the second day of protests with people calling for the UN to withdraw its peacekeepers from the area.
A UN peacekeeping force has been in DR Congo for more than two decades. Called Monusco, it took over from a previous UN mission in 2010.
Monusco currently has almost 18,000 personnel in the DR Congo.
On Monday protesters stormed and looted the UN mission’s local headquarters and a logistical base in the city of Goma. At least five people were killed, officials said.
Then on Tuesday the protests intensified. “They are teargassing us because we came to say that Monusco does not help us. They’ve been in Congo for 22 years and nothing works,” protester Anselme Musimbwa was quoted by the BBC.
The east of DR Congo which has over 100 active rebel groups remains volatile.
Source: Africafeeds.com
