SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 30 April 2024, Tuesday |

Explosion rocks market in eastern Congo city of Beni

  1. An explosion shook a packed market in Beni, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Saturday, according to a Reuters witness.

According to the witness, cops were on the site caring to injuries. It was unclear what triggered the explosion or whether anyone had been killed.

The US embassy in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, claimed on Tuesday that “terrorist acts” were planned in Beni “in the near future,” and that people should avoid going there.

Beni has seen several recent bombings that authorities have blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militant group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

A suicide bomber struck a Beni restaurant on Christmas Day last year, killing at least five people as well as himself, officials said.

Beni was also hit by two explosions in June last year at a Catholic church and at a busy intersection. The only death in the two incidents was in the second bombing, in which the suspected bomber was killed.

    Source:
  • Reuters