Five Chinese nationals kidnapped in DR Congo after attack near mine

Gunmen killed a policeman and kidnapped five Chinese nationals near a mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo overnight, a local official and an army spokesman said on Sunday. It was not clear who carried out the attack near the village of Mukera in South Kivu province. Relations are already strained between Chinese mining companies and local authorities, who say some firms are operating illegally without licenses.

"An armed group exchanged fire with police. Five Chinese nationals were kidnapped," Major Dieudonne Kasereka, the army spokesman in the region, said.

A spokesperson at the Chinese embassy in Congo did not respond to a request for comment. The name of the mine site was not given. In August, the governor of South Kivu, Theo Kasi, suspended the operations of six small Chinese companies, ordering all local and foreign staff to leave the sites. Protests erupted in some areas after companies did not close immediately, local media reported.

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