Congo Protest Proceeds Despite Ban

KINSHASA, Congo — President Laurent Kabila’s troops allowed more than 1,000 protesters to march through the capital of Congo on Friday in defiance of a government ban.

Troops kept a close eye on the march and allowed it to pass through the city center.

But witnesses said that as protesters reached the suburban home of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, two soldiers fired in the air and then were surrounded by the crowd. Marchers then seized the two soldiers’ guns.

“The soldiers were not hurt and walked off, but the crowd took their guns and they still have them,” one witness said.

It was not clear why the soldiers fired.

Protesters loyal to Tshisekedi, who has been excluded from Kabila’s government, carried flags and banners that read “No to dictatorship” and “Kabila must go.”