DRC troops go on looting spree

Kinshasa - Government soldiers looted homes, beat people and fired gunshots into the air on Sunday in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN spokesperson said.

The looting spree in Mbandaka was sparked after a soldier was found dead and his body mutilated early on Sunday morning, said UN spokesperson Kemal Saiki.

"His friends started a rampage after finding his body," Saiki said.

It's unclear who killed the soldier and why, he said.

For several hours, soldiers burst into homes, beat people in the streets and fired their guns indiscriminately, Saiki said.

The looting spree ended after other soldiers managed to corral the rioters back into their camp.

No serious injuries or deaths were reported at Mbandaka, Saiki said.

The soldiers are former militiamen from the violent Ituri province in faraway northeastern DRC, Saiki said.

They'd recently been integrated into the ranks of the national army, part of a power-sharing agreement between militia and government following Congo's devastating 1998-2002 war.

The militia - the People's Armed Forces of Congo - are one of several notorious gangs in Ituri blamed for looting, killing and raping at will.

The United Nations says most of the militia have laid down their weapons, part of a massive disarmament operation underway in Ituri.

Many feel the successful integration of warring militia into the national army is pivotal in the DRC's slow recovery from years of war since its independence from Belgium in 1960.

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