At least one person was killed by security forces during protests against UN peacekeepers in Oicha in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the town’s mayor said.
Residents in towns in Congo’s eastern region staged protests since last week over killings by militias and armed groups and anger over what they say is the UN mission’s inability to prevent civilian killings.
Youths in Oicha, north of provincial capital Goma, barricaded the main highway as part of ongoing protests.
“In an attempt by police to disperse protesters and clear the barricade a young man was killed,” Oicha’s mayor Nicolas Kikuku told Reuters.
Jean Pierre Wumbi, police commissioner in the region, said security forces were carrying out their duty.
Demonstrations were held in other towns including Beni and Butembo.
The UN mission in Congo (MONUSCO) has around 12 000 troops. It took over from an earlier peacekeeping mission in 2010 at the invitation of government.
Around 330 people died in violence in eastern Congo this year, an unresolved legacy of a civil war that officially ended in 2003, according to the Kivu Security Tracker, which maps unrest in the region.
