{"id":24418,"date":"2016-04-07T01:41:47","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T01:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/five-killed-buildings-torched-in-congo-republic\/"},"modified":"2016-04-07T01:41:26","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T01:41:26","slug":"five-killed-buildings-torched-in-congo-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/five-killed-buildings-torched-in-congo-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Five killed, buildings torched in Congo Republic clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Government blames fighting on the disbanded \u201cNinja\u201d Nsiloulou militia.}<\/p>\n

At least five people died and buildings were torched in clashes between government forces and suspected rebels in Congo\u2019s capital, the government said on Tuesday, saying some 50 people had been arrested over the \u201cterror attack\u201d.<\/p>\n

A dozen attackers were also killed in the fighting in the south of the city on Monday, which saw six police stations, a town hall and two customs checkpoints set on fire, government spokesman Thierry Moungalla said on Twitter.<\/p>\n

Heavy gun battles erupted before dawn in the southern Makelekele and Mayana districts of Brazzaville, which are loyal to the opposition, sending thousands of panicked residents fleeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree members of the security forces, two civilians and 12 attackers\u201d were killed in the unrest, Moungalla said, adding that \u201csix members of the security forces were injured, as well as some civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the course of the police operation during the assault, security forces arrested around 50 former militia members, the perpetrators of the attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

“NINJA” MILITIA<\/p>\n

The government blames the fighting, which comes on the heels of a disputed election last month, on the disbanded \u201cNinja\u201d Nsiloulou militia that fought two civil wars in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

The Ninjas are headed by Protestant preacher Frederic Bintsamou, known as Pastor Ntumi, who recently came out in favour of opposition presidential candidate Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, the runner-up in the March 20 vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overwhelming evidence held by relevant services clearly points to the active implication of Mr Bintsamou in the events of Monday,\u201d Mr Moungalla said.<\/p>\n

Congo\u2019s constitutional court on Monday confirmed that former paratrooper colonel President Denis Sassou Nguesso had won, extending his 32 years in power despite accusations of rampant corruption and nepotism.<\/p>\n

Five defeated candidates have disputed the results of the poll, in which Sassou Nguesso took more than 60 per cent, alleging \u201cmassive fraud\u201d.<\/p>\n

Congo has been on edge since an October constitutional referendum ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates, allowing the 72-year-old head of state to run again.<\/p>\n

Last week, there were strikes in several southern districts in protest over the election results.<\/p>\n

The southern Makelekele and Mayana districts remained eerily quiet on Tuesday morning and few residents appeared to have returned home after fleeing the fighting in droves the day before.<\/p>\n

Troops deployed at key points throughout Brazzaville and manned roadblocks, searching the few cars and people out on the streets, while stalls were empty at the city\u2019s biggest Total market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a country where, whether you vote or not, peace is always under threat,\u201d said one woman, who gave her name as Julienne.<\/p>\n

OPPOSITION INVESTIGATIONS<\/p>\n

Mr Moungalla said the March vote was \u201ca great moment of peaceful democracy\u201d and said authorities were investigating whether the opposition was behind the unrest.<\/p>\n

The government \u201cdoes not yet have proof that candidates or their supporters are involved in this affair\u201d but investigations \u201care ongoing\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Kolelas, who came second to Sassou Nguesso in last month\u2019s vote with 15 per cent, said the government allegations against the rebels were \u201coverly hasty\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want a totally impartial enquiry carried out,\u201d Mr Kolelas told AFP in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a masquerade,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019d like to see proof of what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also disputed a ruling by the constitutional court that his request to have the results of four regions annulled was \u201cinadmissible as it was filed after the constitutional deadlines\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Sassou Nguesso served as president from 1979 to 1992 and returned to power in 1997 following a civil war.<\/p>\n

He won two successive terms in elections in 2002 and 2009, both of which were disputed by opposition parties.<\/p>\n

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

{Government blames fighting on the disbanded \u201cNinja\u201d Nsiloulou militia.} At least five people died and buildings were torched in clashes between government forces and suspected rebels in Congo\u2019s capital, the government said on Tuesday, saying some 50 people had been arrested over the \u201cterror attack\u201d. A dozen attackers were also killed in the fighting in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[2461],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-24418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-daily-nation"],"bylines":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","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":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","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":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24418","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24418"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=24418"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=24418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}