Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC)'s capital Kinshasa on Thursday woke up to a highly charged morning marked by clashes between units of the national army FARDC and armed guards belonging to Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, former vice president and 2006 presidential elections loser.

Sources close to the defense ministry affirmed that the FARDC had decided to disarm Bemba's guards in order to reintegrate them into the national army and the clashes claimed several victims.

"It is still difficult to know the number of victims," said the sources.

A local journalist who was not very far from the site affirmed to Xinhua that it began around 08:00 GMT in the morning, when FARDC forces surrounded Bemba's residence in the city center, not far from the Supreme Court of Justice. At around 12:30 GMT, heavy gun fire and sustained automatic fire could be heard, which triggered a general panic among the population, with shops, boutiques and supermarkets in the downtown being closed down.

"Traders and shoppers were forced to leave the market in chaos with fear and panic. Transport was rendered very difficultly and many people were forced to walk home," said a woman trader who was clearly shaken by sounds of heavy gun fire.

Tanks belonging to UN mission in DRC (Monuc) and armored vehicles were deployed in front of Bemba's residence.

Bemba told a private television channel that the Kinshasa government has tried severally to assassinate him under the pretext of disarming his guards.

"They have already tried to eliminate me on two occasions, respectively in August and in November," Bemba said, accusing President Kabila of violating the agreements signed before the publication of the 2006 election results, allowing the losing candidate to keep armed personal guards.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2007)