Lubumbashi — Soldiers sealed part of Democratic Republic of Congo’s second city and carried out mass arrests of young men on Thursday, residents said, as talks to defuse the country’s explosive political crisis were set to continue. Protests and deadly clashes have erupted in the vast country over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his mandate on December 20. The army sealed off the Matshipisha-Gbadolite neighbourhood of Lubumbashi from 3am GMT, five residents of the city told AFP. On Wednesday the governor of Haut-Katanga province, Jean-Claude Kazembe, was forced to flee as stones were thrown at him when he tried to visit Matshipisha on a "peace march" aimed at demonstrating that the authorities were in control there following deadly violence on Tuesday. Police said a total of 22 people were killed on Tuesday in clashes in the capital Kinshasa, Lubumbashi in the southeast, and Matadi and Boma in the west. They said eight of the deaths were in Matshipisha, ...
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