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Gun battles rock Brazzaville in wake of disputed Republic of Congo election
 [WASHINGTONPOST] Gun battles rocked the capital of the Republic of Congo on Monday, shattering a relative calm that had followed President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s reelection in a disputed poll last month.Government front man Thierry Moungalla said that former members of the "Ninja" militia that fought Sassou-Nguesso in a 1997 civil war raided and set on fire military, police and local government offices but that the attacks have been contained. Opposition leader Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, whose father led the Ninjas during the civil war, came second in the March 20 election. The Ninjas signed a peace accord with the government in 2003 after years of sporadic festivities, though rivalries persist along regional and ethnic lines. Kolélas was not involved in the attacks, an aide said. "The government . . . does not yet have proof that the candidates or their supporters were involved in this affair but . . . investigations are underway," Moungalla said on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? The fighting between security forces and unidentified gunnies was some of the worst to hit Brazzaville since 1997, when Sassou-Nguesso returned to power after months of urban warfare between rival militia groups in the capital. He had previously ruled the oil-producing country from 1979 until he lost an election in 1992. Opposition supporters said in the wake of the March 20 election that they are frustrated that one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers can extend a tenure that has totaled three decades. Witnesses said young opposition supporters chanted "Sassou, leave!," erected barricades near the main roundabout in southern Brazzaville’s Makelekele neighborhood, and set fire to the local mayor’s office and police headquarters. The gunfire broke out in Makelekele and Bacongo, opposition strongholds, at 3 a.m. local time and lasted until 6 a.m. It resumed around 8 a.m. and intensified as military helicopters patrolled southern Brazzaville, witnesses said. Heavy-weapons fire could be heard. Hundreds of residents of southern Brazzaville fled their neighborhoods on foot toward the north of the city. Posted by: Fred 2016-04-05 |
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