Kinshasa, Congo
Furious at a lack of U.N. protection, thousands of angry demonstrators this week rioted at U.N. compounds across Congo. The protests came after rebels overwhelmed U.N. peacekeepers to capture the key eastern city of Bukavu. When protesters broke down the door of a U.N. building in the capital, U.N. troops fired on the crowd, killing two. “It was legitimate self-defense,” said U.N. spokesman Hamadoun Touré. “They had to open fire to calm down the situation.” The taking of Bukavu was a blow to the U.N.-backed Congolese peace process, under which rebel commanders are to be integrated into the Congolese army. Congo’s five-year civil war, which ended in 2002, drew in militias from six countries and killed some 3 million people.
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