"There was robbery of highwaymen on the national road N ° 1 in Yaki village. During the shootings, the driver of a bus and a shopkeeper were killed on the spot. A third person succumbed due to his wounds in the hospital, "deputy Papy Manbo, deputy of Kasangulu, revealed to AFP.

Kasangulu, in Kongo Central Province, is 45 km west of Kinshasa along the National Highway 1 which connects the capital with ten million people to its outlets on the Atlantic Ocean of Matadi, the ports Matadi, Boma and Banana (at the mouth of the Congo River).

"The national road N ° 1 was cut from 21h00 to 4h00 local time by these (persons) + unpatriotic + (ndr: armed offenders) who had placed bricks to force the vehicles to stop", he added.

"This is the 15th attack of these road cutters recorded since the beginning of the year. The third in May, "told an AFP correspondent, Alain Mpiana, Deputy Administrator of Kasangulu Territory.

The 350 km long south-west section of the RN 1 is the Kinshasa supply route for products imported by sea. The road is also very used for transporting export products such as wood.

"It is time to quickly set up a motorized surveillance brigade in view of the strategic importance of this road," said another deputy of Kasangulu, Jean-Claude Mvuemba, interviewed by AFP.


(CKS/Yes)