Stay-at-home protest paralyses DR Congo towns after rebel attack

Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - Several towns in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were paralysed Monday by a stay-at-home protest to pressure the government to act following an attack by Rwandan rebels that left three seriously injured.

Georges Kasongo, head of an NGO in the territory of Lubero, told AFP a three-day shutdown had been declared to "challenge the government to restore peace and security" in an area that has been terrorised by rebels.

Two men and a woman were stabbed by members of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) on Sunday and were now "between life and death", according to a local source who wished to remain anonymous.

Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, are regularly accused of serious crimes against civilians in eastern DRC.

"We have had enough of the kidnappings... and of insecurity caused by the FDLR," Kasongo said by telephone, adding that the first day of the protest had been "a success" because everything was closed, including schools and markets.

Lubero's administrator Joy Bokele told AFP he was "surprised by the magnitude of the movement".

"The problem of insecurity is real in the southern Lubero territory," where "the population lives with anxiety," Bokele said.