UN sources in the city told IRIN Kinshasa was quiet today, with the military patrolling the streets. Government spokesman Didier Mumengi called on the people to stay calm and remain indoors. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. Humanitarian sources in Bukavu said Radio Bukavu and a local development radio station known as Radio Maendeleo were in the hands of the Banyamulenge military, and numbers of them could be seen around the offices of both stations. However, according to the sources, non-Banyamulenge soldiers are circulating freely in town.
Witnesses also report the presence of some Rwandan soldiers.
The statement announcing opposition to Kabila, broadcast on Goma radio, was also read out on Bukavu radio by Commander Birunga Kamanda. The Banyamulenge military also freed a number of prisoners from Bukavu jail. Unconfirmed reports said government soldiers in the town were rounding up Banyamulenge troops, disarming them and holding them at a central point. According to a Munyamulenge NGO worker, the rebellion takes place amid increasing feelings of marginalisation by the Banyamulenge community after several of their civilian officials were sacked, the latest being the deputy administrator of Uvira Boniface Budederi. The source also told IRIN four Banyamulenge soldiers, including a commander, were ambushed and killed Saturday by other Congolese soldiers on the Baraka-Uvira road.