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| - DR Congo police on Friday arrested the self-styled prophet of a separatist sect blamed for deadly attacks after hundreds of members of the security forces raided his home in Kinshasa. "Mission accomplished" a police tweet said, after troops stormed the home of former MP Ne Muanda Nsemi, who heads the Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) sect, following an hours-long siege. A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several BDK members were found in the house and added that many people had died in the raid. The BDK aims to revive the pre-colonial Kongo kingdom, which thrived for centuries around the mouth of the Congo River, and has repeatedly clashed with security forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Witnesses said the leader, who is aged around 70, was arrested. Since April 13, about 20 sect members and police have been killed in three clashes on a key highway in the Kongo Central province which neighbours Kinshasa. The route is vital as it links Kinshasa, home to some 10 million people, to the ports of Matadi and Moanda. At the end March, police dispersed several BDK members in Kinshasa for defying a ban on gatherings of more than 20 people imposed to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. bmb/ach/txw
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