By James Tasamba
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Five people, including a police officer, were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) when soldiers were ordered to fire into a crowd, the army announced on Monday.
The senior army officer who gave the order was in a convoy headed for the town of Bunia -- the provincial capital of northeastern Ituri -- when the incident took place on Sunday, the army said in a statement.
Tensions had risen before the shooting amid a "misunderstanding" between the unnamed officer's accompanying troops and other security forces manning a roadblock on the way, the statement added.
"An army officer at the rank of colonel ordered soldiers to shoot into the crowd after a misunderstanding occurred at Luna town between the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. Three people, including a police officer, were killed on the spot, while two others died in the hospital," Capt. Anthony Mualushayi, the military spokesman in North Kivu, told reporters.
Several other wounded people were taken to hospitals in the nearby towns of Eringeti and Oicha.
The army officer has been arrested for prosecution, Mualushayi added.