8 hurt, many arrests in police raid on oulawed DRCongo group

Eight suspected members of an outlawed political-religious group were critically injured and 22 arrested in clashes with police in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) capital, police sources said today.

Violence erupted late yesterday and continued into Tuesday when police stormed a house believed to harbour members of the Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) movement.

BDK stands for "Kingdom of the Kongo" in the Kikongo language and members, known as the Makessa, are hostile to the police as symbols of the vast central African state's authority.

"Twenty-two people were arrested including eight who were critically injured," said police spokesman Pierre Rombaut Mwanamputu.

He said two cars were torched by BDK members and that police recovered six automatic rifles.

The movement, concentrated in the southwest, seeks the restoration of the former Congolese kingdom inside pre-colonial boundaries, which would comprise parts of Angola, Congo and Gabon.

Police and other witnesses told

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