At least 36 people were killed after two days of violent clashes between police and opposition supporters in south-western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to reports on Thursday. The initial fighting began on Wednesday, where some 12 people were killed, but then continued on Thursday and spread to other western towns, DPA reported. Protests against last week's elections for provincial governor were met with police resistance on Wednesday evening in Matadi in the south-west province of Bas-Congo. The protesters, who support defeated presidential candidate Jean- Pierre Bemba, carried signs reading "Congo can't be rebuilt on corruption." Police proceeded to raid the home of a leader of an anti- government religious sect who also ran for vice-governor when the gun battle erupted. On Thursday, supporters of the religious sect, Bundu dia Kongo, stormed a police station and killed four officers, the BBC reported. They then released prisoners from the jail, which was in a small town on the border with Angola. Riots broke out in the border town of Boma on Thursday as well, with police killing 20 people while trying to contain the situation. Earlier, a UN official said the UN's mission in the Congo dispatched a troupe to the site of Wednesday's fighting, but a mass of protestors blocked it from reaching the scene. More troops would be sent by helicopter on Thursday, she said. DRC held its first democratic elections in more than four decades last year, with President Joseph Kabila's allies dominating the provincial governor elections last week, sparking allegations of corruption from opposition supporters.
