{"id":2000109555,"date":"2026-04-23T10:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T08:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000109555"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T08:20:22","slug":"chaos-as-soldiers-police-clash-in-kinshasas-makala-commune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/chaos-as-soldiers-police-clash-in-kinshasas-makala-commune\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaos as soldiers, police clash in Kinshasa\u2019s Makala commune"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The unrest, which involved heavy exchanges of gunfire between the two branches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo\u2019s (DRC) security forces, reportedly stemmed from a disputed arrest operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clashes ignited on the afternoon of April 21 in the Mabulu area along Elengesa Road. According to local reports, officers from a police rapid response unit were in the process of arresting several youths suspected of theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation escalated when FARDC soldiers stationed nearby intervened to obstruct the arrests. Witnesses noted a troubling development as some of the youths, allegedly members of the notorious Kuluna criminal gangs, aligned themselves with the soldiers to confront the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fighting quickly spread from Elengesa Road toward Kibambi 1 Road, eventually reaching a police station on Kimfumu Road. As the gunfire intensified, students at a nearby school were forced to lie on the floor to avoid stray bullets, while residents fled the area or barricaded themselves in their homes as the standoff transitioned from a local dispute into a broader tactical skirmish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The violence resulted in significant property damage, including the complete destruction of a small police station and the reported looting of several residential houses during the chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makala Mayor Ngudia Kabongo confirmed the extent of the damage on April 22 but offered a reprieve regarding casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No fatalities have been recorded in these clashes,” Kabongo stated, though he acknowledged that the destruction of the police post and the trauma to the community were significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the evening of April 22, the central government moved to de-escalate the situation. A joint team of senior military and police officials was deployed to Makala to conduct coordinated security operations and re-establish a unified command structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The clashes ignited on the afternoon of April 21 in the Mabulu area along Elengesa Road. According to local reports, officers from a police rapid response unit were in the process of arresting several youths suspected of theft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A violent confrontation between soldiers and police officers paralysed the Makala Commune in Kinshasa on April 21 and 22, 2026, leaving a trail of property destruction and sending residents into a state of panic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000109556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000109555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000109556,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/makal-afc57.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":836,"height":556,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/makal-afc57.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/makal-afc57.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/makal-afc57.jpg","width":768,"height":511},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/makal-afc57.jpg","width":836,"height":556},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/makal-afc57.jpg","width":836,"height":556}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000109555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000109555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000109555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000109557,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000109555\/revisions\/2000109557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000109556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000109555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000109555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000109555"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000109555"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000109555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}