KINSHASA — At least 17 people, mostly civilians, were killed on Monday when clashes erupted ahead of a planned opposition rally in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, a minister said, warning the toll was "provisional". Opposition parties said late on Monday the death toll was near 50, but this was unconfirmed. It was the worst violence in Kinshasa since January 2015 when a police crackdown on another opposition protest left several dozen people dead. The clashes began during the morning several hours before the rally, which authorities later cancelled, was to have taken place. Demonstrators were to demand the resignation of President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001. Interior Minister Evariste Boshab described the violence as an attempted "uprising" and said the victims included 14 civilians and three police officers. "By midday, the sad and painful provisional toll from these barbaric and savage acts … (stood at) 17 dead, among them three police...
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