At least 10 people were killed overnight in a raid on the city of Beni in eastern Congo, witnesses said, and a civil society group and a monitoring body said Islamist militants were suspected of being behind the attack.
Residents said a group of attackers had set several houses on fire in the middle of the night in the city's Beu district, firing upon people as they exited the buildings and attacking some with machetes.
The raid took place just four days after the city, home to thousands of displaced people who fled surrounding areas because of violence, was hit by two blasts, which officials also blamed on the Islamists.
Hundreds of people took to Beni's streets on Thursday morning to protest against the government's failure to protect the city. Some people built makeshift barricades while others burned tyres.
"So far we have seen ten bodies ourselves and have just transported a body on a cart to the morgue," said protestor Kathembo Ngeleza, who was woken up by gunfire during the night after attending a party celebrating Congo's Independence Day.
"We don't know what our authorities are doing. The idea is to protect the inhabitants, but here we are again ... We are really angry," he added.
