DR Congo: Multiple embassies targeted in Kinshasa protest wave

Protesters in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), attacked the Dutch Embassy in Kinshasa on Tuesday, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the Mediacongo news portal reported widespread demonstrations in Kinshasa, with protesters attacking the embassies of France, Rwanda, and Uganda. These nations have been accused by demonstrators of adopting policies hostile to the DRC.

"The Dutch Embassy in Kinshasa also became the target of an aggressive protest earlier today," a spokesperson for the Dutch Foreign Ministry said, as quoted by the RTL broadcaster.

Local security forces have secured the embassy, the ministry said.

"The situation appears to be stabilising. It’s distressing that our colleagues had to go through this," the ministry added.

The protests in Kinshasa are fuelled by escalating violence in the eastern DRC, where rebel forces have intensified attacks, reportedly with military backing from Rwanda.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said over the weekend that its SAMIDRC mission in the eastern Congolese city of Goma came under a deadly attack by the M23 armed group on January 22, in what it said was a clear violation of the Angola-brokered ceasefire.

In July 2022, a DRC-Rwanda summit took place in Angola after M23 rebels, who claim to be protecting the rights of the Tutsi minority, stepped up the fighting in the eastern DRC. The DRC accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, while Rwanda denied having any links to the movement.

Both countries have repeatedly accused each other of shelling each other's border territories. At the summit, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, agreed to de-escalate relations between the two countries. The roadmap adopted by the two leaders called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of M23 militants from their positions in the DRC.

However, the M23 militants said that they did not consider themselves obligated by the provisions of the roadmap.

Sputnik