Congo villagers kill 47 policemen

Kinshasa: Armed villagers killed at least 47 policemen trying to intervene in ethnic clashes in northern Democratic Republic of Congo. An unknown number of civilians also died in the violence in the village of Dongo, near the border with Republic of the Congo, early on Thursday.

Residents from neighbouring villages representing two different ethnic groups had been involved in sporadic fighting in recent months over fishing rights. The Information Minister, Lambert Mende, said: "They've been fighting over fishing ponds with machetes and with hunting rifles. The policemen were sent to re-establish order. I don't know why they would have been attacked."