Kinshasa - Nearly a dozen men armed
with knives and batons burst into the largest market in
Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa on Friday,
killing at least two people and wounding six police officers,
the police and witnesses said.
The assailants were not identified, but witnesses said the
wore red headbands and magic charms.
Members of Bundu dia Kongo, a separatist cult blamed for an
attack on Kinshasa's main prison in May in which about 4 000
inmates escaped, often wear red bands and carry similar items.
The incident in the heart of Kinshasa's business district
further heightened security fears, after a series of mass prison
breaks and worsening militia violence across the country.
Insecurity in the vast central African country, where
millions died in civil wars around the turn of the century, has
intensified since President Joseph Kabila refused to step down
when his mandate expired in December.
Police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu said in a statement that
unidentified assailants killed the administrator of Kinshasa's
Central Market and a police officer from a nearby station. Six
other officers were seriously wounded, he said.
Hydro Eloko, an official at the market, told Reuters that
the attackers stabbed the administrator and several police
officers. Other witnesses confirmed his account.
A Reuters reporter saw a pool of blood and shattered glass
in the administrator's office and drips of blood on the ground
outside shortly after the attack.
People ran for blocks to flee the scene and shops on nearby
streets were shuttered as dozens of soldiers and police officers
were deployed in pickup trucks.