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The DR Congo military foiled an attempted coup in Kinshasa involving “foreigners and Congolese” on Sunday, according to an army spokesperson.
The coup attempt occurred in the early hours outside the residence of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe, in the Gombe neighborhood to the north of the capital, near the president’s offices at the Palais de la Nation.
“An attempted coup d’etat has been stopped by the defence and security forces,” said General Sylvain Ekenge in a message broadcast on national television.
He added that the “foreigners and Congolese… including their leader” would “all no longer cause any harm”.
Shots were also heard near the Palais de la Nation during the coup attempt, according to multiple reports.
Ekenge did not elaborate on the coup attempt. AFP also contacted official sources but has received no response.
Later in the morning, the city’s situation calmed down, according to AFP correspondents.
In the early morning, reports circulated on social media of an armed attack on Kamerhe’s residence, with some of the attackers going to the Palais de la Nation.
Months after the elections
There was “an armed attack” this morning at the residence of the economy minister, Japan’s ambassador Hidetoshi Ogawa wrote on X.
Kamerhe “was not harmed… (but) two policemen and an assailant were killed according to sources,” he added.
France’s envoy reported automatic weapons fire in the quarter and advised its citizens to avoid the area.
Social media videos showed men in fatigues at the Palais de la Nation waving Zaire flags, the name of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was deposed in 1997.
AFP was unable to authenticate the videos.
AFP observed many heavily armed military trucks driving from the Palais de la Nation to a huge junction in Gombe.
Construction blocks impeded the route leading to the Palais de la Nation, and troops on foot blocked entrance to Boulevard Thsatshi, near Tshisekedi’s offices.
Tshisekedi was re-elected at the end of December after receiving more than 70% of votes in the first round of voting.
However, he has yet to establish a cabinet, five months after the elections.
On April 23, Kamerhe was named a presidential contender for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s major legislative body, the National Assembly.
