Congo's army clashed on Monday with followers of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila in the eastern mining city of Lubumbashi, an official in the governor's office said, hours after his supporters attacked targets in the capital.
Witnesses said the clashes erupted after government troops attacked Mukungubila's church in the centre of Lubumbashi, in Congo's copper-rich Katanga province.
This comes after Congolese government troops have regained control of the state television headquarters, army headquarters and the international airport in the capital Kinshasa after an attack by some 70 gunmen, government spokesman Lambert Mende said.
"We have total control of the situation," he told Reuters, adding that 40 of the attackers had been killed by the security forces.
Gunmen attacked the airport and seized control of the state television headquarters in the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo in what appeared to be an attempt to seize power by supporters of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila.
Police put a security cordon around the state television building where gunmen had taken several people hostage, journalists told Reuters. Witnesses also reported shooting at the Tshatshi military camp, close to the Defense Ministry.
Congo, a vast country at the heart of Africa, is struggling to emerge from decades of violence and instability, particularly in its mineral-rich east, in which millions of people have died, mostly from hunger and disease. The country is home to a 21,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO).
Before transmission was shut down at state television, two gunmen appeared on camera to deliver what appeared to be a political message against President Joseph Kabila, who took office in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent.
"Gideon Mukungubila has come to free you from the slavery of the Rwandan," said the message, according to a Reuters reporter who saw a tape of the transmission. Gideon is the nickname used for Mukungubila by his followers.
Mukungubila, who calls himself 'The prophet of the Eternal', ran unsuccessfully for the presidency against Kabila in 2006.
He has been an outspoken critic of a peace deal signed this month with the Tutsi-led M23 rebel group in eastern Congo, accusing Kabila's government of bowing to Tutsi interests and pressure from neighbouring Rwanda.
REUTERS