US and Belgian flags have been burned by protesters – who also set alight tyres as they targeted Western embassies in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds in central Kinshasa on Monday.

The demonstrators were angry at what they saw as Western support for neighbouring Rwanda after it was accused of backing a rebellion in the east of the DRC.

Rwanda has denied the claims, which came as the Tutsi-led rebel group M23 advanced and threatened the strategic city of Goma.

But the DRC, Western governments including the US and Belgium, and a UN expert group say M23 benefits from Rwandan support.

The armed rebels in the east of the country have committed unlawful killings, rape, and other apparent war crimes since late 2022, according to Human Rights Watch.

On Monday, protesters gathered at the US and French embassies, and the offices of the UN mission, despite security being increased after UN staff and vehicles were attacked on Saturday.

Inside the Rwanda refugee camp where people were forced to flee as rebel groups ravage their homeland

Congo flooding and landslides leave more than 200 dead as village turned into ‘wasteland’

‘Your pain is my pain’: Pope urges young people to forge a new future as he meets victims of atrocities in Congo

Some people threw stones and tried to break CCTV cameras at one of the US embassy offices, while others chanted: “Leave our country, we don’t want your hypocrisy”.

“The international community remains silent while Congolese are being killed; they finance Rwanda,” said motorcyclist Fabrice Malumba, who took part in the demonstration in front of the US embassy.

“The Westerners are behind the looting of our country, Rwanda doesn’t work alone, so they must leave our country,” said Pepin Mbindu, who also joined the protest.

Read more:
Inside Rwanda refugee camp where people were forced to flee
DRC flooding and landslides leave more than 200 dead

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Elsewhere, a demonstrator reportedly removed an EU flag from the entrance of a large hotel in the city centre.

DRC’s vice prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Christophe Lutundula has met ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions in Kinshasa, and later said security measures would be taken to protect their buildings.

Decades of conflicts in the eastern DRC between rival armed groups over land and resources, and attacks on civilians, have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than seven million.

Related posts:

Myanmar protests: Armoured tanks roll into cities as tensions rise Children as young as 11 ‘being beheaded’ amid Islamist insurgency in Mozambique Before and after images show devastation caused by Germany floods Putin set to decide whether to recognise separatist regions in Ukraine as independent North Korea confirms Kim Jong Un’s new missile launch and releases photos The high-profile Russians who have fled Putin’s regime, quit their jobs and refuse to support Ukraine war Heavy snowfall causes 13 dead and more than 10,000 homes without power in Japan Pele’s family spending Christmas in hospital after football legend’s cancer progressed ‘Fire tourists’ urged to keep away as blazes force hundreds from their homes in eastern Spain Four people ‘critical’ after explosion in Paris sparks fire and reduces buildings to rubble ‘We don’t know what they are’: Search for origin of ‘noises’ will continue in sub hunt, Coast Guard says Ambassador criticised ‘sarcastic’ Zelenskyy in Sky News interview days before sacking