Congo Coup Leader Killed in Foiled Attack, Presidency Says
- Christian Malanga, self-exiled in the US, killed in attack
- Live stream video shows some attackers with US flag patches
Vital Kamerhe
Photographer: Arsene Mpiana/AFP /Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said it had killed the leader of an attempted coup and arrested several others hours after gunfire erupted on Sunday in the capital of the mineral-rich central African country.
The attack in the capital, Kinshasa, comes amid a series of coups that have spread across West and Central Africa over the past five years, installing military governments who have shunned the West and forged closer ties with Russia. Congo is the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, a key component in electric vehicles, and its vast mineral wealth makes it a strategically important ally for both the West and China, which dominates its mining industry.