Hundreds of mutinous soldiers shot dead at least six people and ransacked shops and houses during a day-long pillage in western Congo over the weekend, a local official said on Monday. The soldiers went on the rampage in the town of Mbandaka, 600 km (370 miles) northeast of Kinshasa, on Sunday after they found the mutilated body of one of their colleagues, U.N. and local officials said. "Some are saying nine people have been killed but I now know six people were shot dead by the soldiers," Albert Donatien Bekalola, mayor of the town of Mbandaka, told Reuters by telephone on Monday. "Most of the shooting has stopped and most of the soldiers have returned to their barracks," Bekalola said. "But they pillaged lots -- they went into people's houses and demanded money. If none was given, they pillaged the shop or house." Bekalola said that around 20 people had been injured on Sunday and he feared more may die from their bullet wounds. Mbandaka lies in a region of Democratic Republic of Congo which has largely escaped fighting that has rumbled on in other areas since a wider five-year civil war was declared over. --More 2326 Local Time 2026 GMT
