A movie style scenario has emerged in DRC’s Haut-Katanga Province where notorious Maï-Maï militiamen stormed the Governor’s office triggering deadly confrontation with police and soldiers guarding the provincial seat of power.
“A police officer was killed and one of the attackers shot dead during clashes this Friday, November 6, in Lubumbashi,” a source on site told local Radio station during a Swahili news bulletin early Friday.
The source added that the casualties also include four soldiers seriously injured and another in critical condition, admitted to the emergency department.
Several attackers were arrested, according to security sources contacted according to the same source.
In a related report, “an individual identified as a Maï-Maï, armed with a machete, allegedly disarmed a police officer after neutralizing him at the gate.”
However, a pro government version report says there has been NO “incursion of armed Maï-Maï men at the governorate.”
“An isolated incident occurred at the entrance to the Haut-Katanga governorate. A single individual attempted to seize the weapon of a police officer on guard duty. Gunshots rang out, and the intruder was neutralized.”
Meanwhile, another witnesses far away from the incursion said, “At 4 hours from Likasi there was a lot of gunfire crackling, we don’t know the reason.”
The Governor’s Office building is currently secured by the FARDC. The situation is reportedly under control, pending investigation.
