STORY: At least 10 dead as DR Congo religious sect protests UN presence
DATELINE: Aug. 31, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:06
LOCATION: GOMA, DR Congo
CATEGORY: MILITARY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Goma, DR Congo
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): GUILLAUME NDJIKE KAIKO, Spokesperson for the military governor of North Kivu
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): ERIC RUBWIRA, Motorcycle taximan of Goma

STORYLINE:

At least 10 people were killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday when troops intervened in a religious sect's planned anti-U.N. protests. 
Activities remained paralyzed the morning of Wednesday in Goma, capital of the North Kivu province in the eastern DRC. A mystical religious sect known as "Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith toward the Nations" had urged followers to enter United Nations (UN) bases and demand the departure of peacekeepers. 
Local authorities of Goma had banned the protest. Women, young girls and boys, men and children were arrested by the army.

SOUNDBITE 1 (French): GUILLAUME NDJIKE KAIKO, Spokesperson for the military governor of North Kivu
"We have aggressors who threaten the security of the Republic and these people are playing into the enemy's game. They are being manipulated, drugged, and bought with banknotes to create insecurity. The defense forces and security operated in a professional manner."

Following this situation, all activities were paralyzed in the city of Goma until 4 p.m. local time. Shops and stores remained closed.  
SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): ERIC RUBWIRA, Motorcycle taximan of Goma
"It was only the police who sowed the trouble. The demonstrators wanted to march so that UN peacekeepers would leave. They have spent enough years without doing anything in this region. The demonstrators wanted to be peaceful, moreover." 
The DRC's east has been ravaged by militia violence for three decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Goma, DR Congo.
(XHTV)