Soldiers mutiny in Democratic Republic of Congo

There have been serious disturbances involving soldiers in two port towns in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Security sources say the riots broke out after soldiers did not receive their salaries.

Military police have been flown to Matadi, the main port on the Atlantic coast, and the port of Boma.

Shooting broke out on Wednesday evening and continued on Thursday at the military barracks on the outskirts of Matadi, some three-hundred-kilometres west of the capital, Kinshasa.

The unrest then spread to Boma.

The BBC correspondent in Kinshasa says reports indicate that several senior army officers were arrested before the mutinies in connection with embezzled soldiers' pay.

Our correspondent says the mililtary in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains under fragile control, as its commanders try to build a new national security force out of the different ethnic and regional forces that took part in the civil war last year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service