KINSHASA: Six people were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday, the UN said, as the authorities cracked down on a banned protest against President Joseph Kabila.
Witnesses said security forces fired live rounds and tear gas in Kinshasa to disperse demonstrators who had gathered after Catholic church leaders called for a mass peaceful demonstration against Kabila’s 17-year rule.
The UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO said six people were killed in Kinshasa and 49 others injured nationwide in anti-Kabila rallies.
It added that 94 people were arrested across the country.
A spokesman for the national police told state television that “two people were killed” in the capital, while nine policemen were wounded, two of them seriously.
Of the two killed according to the authorities’ toll, one was shot at close range by a police officer, the presidency’s spokesman Yvon Ramazani said in a call to AFP.
“The policeman is under arrest and must be brought to justice,” he said.
A 16-year-old girl died after shots were fired from an armored vehicle at the entrance to a church in the Kitambo area of the capital, Jean-Baptise Sondji, a former minister and government opponent, told AFP.
Sunday’s bloody crackdown comes three weeks after a similar march on New Year’s Eve ended in deadly violence, during which organizers said a dozen people were killed.
“An armored car passed in front of the church. They began firing live bullets, I protected myself,” Sondji, who is also a doctor, said by telephone.
“A girl who was at the left side door of the church was hit by a bullet,” he said, adding that she was already dead when she was taken by taxi to hospital.
Government minister Felix Kabange Numbi told AFP that “hundreds of people recruited by the parish priest of Saint-Christophe tried to enter” his residence.
“My guard fired warning shots before the arrival of reinforcements who arrested 145 people,” he said.
Tensions were also reported by AFP journalists in the major cities of Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Goma, Beni and Mbuji Mayi.
The Internet, email and social media messaging networks were cut in the capital ahead of the march.
Security forces installed roadblocks on major routes and armed officers conducted ID checks.
The church had called for rallies around the country despite a government ban on all demonstrations since September 2016, when anti-Kabila protests turned violent.
The head of the Muslim community, Cheikh Ali Mwinyi M’Kuu had urged the authorities on Saturday to allow the march to take place.
“If they decide to repress, there will be no peace. But if they let the march take place, they will respect the constitution and peace will prevail.”
The previous anti-Kabila march, on December 31, descended into a bloody crackdown after police and security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
Protest organizers said 12 people were killed, while the United Nations reported at least five dead. The authorities said no deaths that day were linked to the demonstration.
The country’s powerful Catholic Church, one of the few institutions to nationally enjoy broad credibility, condemned what it called “barbarism.” The UN and France also sounded their concern over the death toll.
A group of eight intellectuals have joined the church in calling for the march to be peaceful.
The so-called “secular committee of coordination” has called on people to march after mass “with our peace branches, our bibles, our rosaries, our crucifixes, to save the Congo.”
Arrest warrants have been issued against at least five members of the committee, a magistrate told AFP, prompting them to go into hiding.
The committee has called for the release of political prisoners, to allow the return of exiled political opponents and, above all, a guarantee that Kabila will stand down and not seek a third term.
The president, 46, has been in power since 2001, at the helm of a regime widely criticized for corruption, repression and incompetence.
His constitutional term in office expired in December 2016 but he stayed on, stoking a bloody spiral of violence.
Under an agreement brokered by the Catholic Church, he was allowed to stay in office provided new elections were held in 2017.
The authorities later said organizational problems meant that the vote would be held on December 23, 2018 — a postponement that has angered Western nations, but one that they have reluctantly accepted.
![]()
Six dead in DR Congo protest crackdown: UN
Six dead in DR Congo protest crackdown: UN
Macron to set out how France’s nuclear arms could protect Europe
PARIS: France will on Monday unveil how it could use the European Union’s only atomic arsenal to protect the continent in an unstable world, with Russia becoming increasingly aggressive and the United States turning away.
The speech by French President Emmanuel Macron, at France’s Ile Longue nuclear submarine base, comes after the launch of US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East.
“What we are experiencing demonstrates that in the world to come, power and independence will be two indispensable forces for dealing with the proliferation of threats,” said a member of Macron’s team.
Macron is set to update France’s nuclear doctrine as Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and NATO allies worry about Washington’s wavering commitment to Europe.
“There will undoubtedly be some significant shifts and developments,” a source said of the speech set to be delivered from 1415 GMT Monday.
European nations, which have relied on the US nuclear deterrent throughout the Cold War and in the decades since it ended, are increasingly debating whether to bolster their own atomic arsenals.
Paris has been in talks with countries including Germany and Poland over how France could use its atomic arsenal to help protect the continent.
Last year, Macron said he was ready to discuss possible deployment of French aircraft armed with nuclear weapons in other European countries.
Macron said in February he was considering a doctrine that could include “special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries.
France maintains the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which is no longer a member of the EU, is the only other European nuclear power.
By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world’s two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.
‘27 buttons’
Reassurances from US officials that Washington’s deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears of fickleness under US President Donald Trump.
“It is clear that we will need to reflect together on how French and British deterrence can fit into a more assertive European defense,” Bernard Rogel, who served as top military adviser to Macron, told AFP.
But how exactly nuclear cooperation would work between the EU’s 27 states is another story.
Rogel insisted that control over the launch decision will remain in French hands.
“I can’t see us having 27 buttons. From a credibility standpoint, that just doesn’t work,” he said.
‘Only a good thing’
Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said leaders should find confidence in European support for strengthening nuclear deterrence.
He said people in Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland now tend to support rather than oppose the idea of developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent.
“If there’s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or UK’s nuclear deterrence, that’s only a good thing,” Finland’s defense minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP in February.
Florian Galleri, a historian specializing in nuclear doctrines, warned that Macron would have to tread carefully, pointing to his low approval ratings one year before the end of his presidency.
Macron’s address could also spark a backlash ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which Marine Le Pen’s euroskeptic far-right is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.
“There is a consensus on possessing nuclear weapons in France, but not on nuclear policy,” Galleri said.
The far-right has already issued a warning.
“If Mr. Macron thinks he can give France’s nuclear weapon to the EU, he will face impeachment proceedings for treason,” Philippe Olivier, an adviser to Le
The speech by French President Emmanuel Macron, at France’s Ile Longue nuclear submarine base, comes after the launch of US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East.
“What we are experiencing demonstrates that in the world to come, power and independence will be two indispensable forces for dealing with the proliferation of threats,” said a member of Macron’s team.
Macron is set to update France’s nuclear doctrine as Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and NATO allies worry about Washington’s wavering commitment to Europe.
“There will undoubtedly be some significant shifts and developments,” a source said of the speech set to be delivered from 1415 GMT Monday.
European nations, which have relied on the US nuclear deterrent throughout the Cold War and in the decades since it ended, are increasingly debating whether to bolster their own atomic arsenals.
Paris has been in talks with countries including Germany and Poland over how France could use its atomic arsenal to help protect the continent.
Last year, Macron said he was ready to discuss possible deployment of French aircraft armed with nuclear weapons in other European countries.
Macron said in February he was considering a doctrine that could include “special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries.
France maintains the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which is no longer a member of the EU, is the only other European nuclear power.
By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world’s two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.
‘27 buttons’
Reassurances from US officials that Washington’s deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears of fickleness under US President Donald Trump.
“It is clear that we will need to reflect together on how French and British deterrence can fit into a more assertive European defense,” Bernard Rogel, who served as top military adviser to Macron, told AFP.
But how exactly nuclear cooperation would work between the EU’s 27 states is another story.
Rogel insisted that control over the launch decision will remain in French hands.
“I can’t see us having 27 buttons. From a credibility standpoint, that just doesn’t work,” he said.
‘Only a good thing’
Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said leaders should find confidence in European support for strengthening nuclear deterrence.
He said people in Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland now tend to support rather than oppose the idea of developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent.
“If there’s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or UK’s nuclear deterrence, that’s only a good thing,” Finland’s defense minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP in February.
Florian Galleri, a historian specializing in nuclear doctrines, warned that Macron would have to tread carefully, pointing to his low approval ratings one year before the end of his presidency.
Macron’s address could also spark a backlash ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which Marine Le Pen’s euroskeptic far-right is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.
“There is a consensus on possessing nuclear weapons in France, but not on nuclear policy,” Galleri said.
The far-right has already issued a warning.
“If Mr. Macron thinks he can give France’s nuclear weapon to the EU, he will face impeachment proceedings for treason,” Philippe Olivier, an adviser to Le
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.