(FeaturedHeadlines.com) The military of the Democratic Republic of Congo arrested three Americans and killed one after accusing them of being CIA operatives involved in the failed coup attempt in the country.
Footage of US nationals captured by the DRC military made rounds on social media, which shows the arrested Americans pleading for mercy to Congolese officials.
According to the DRC military, a 41-year-old US resident, Christian Malanga, who was leading the failed coup attempt has been killed.
The arrested Americans are Malanga’s 21-year-old son, Marcel, Benjamin Zalma-Polun, who was born in Maryland, and Taylor Thomson.
Military spokesperson General Sylvain Ekenge noted that the army is currently investigating 50 individuals, including three Americans, for the coup attempt outside the offices of top government officials.
The violent group was planning to attack the residences of government officials but was unable to find some of these houses. Gunshots were also heard during the whole saga.
DRC’s military, which has a strong say in all the country’s affairs, further stated that they neutralized the coup threat that was orchestrated by both foreigners and locals in the capital city of Kinshasa.
Malanga was a naturalized American citizen who moved to the United States in 1988 as a refugee. In 2006, he went to Congo and served in its military before running for election in 2011.
In 2012, he went into exile in the US and formed his own political party. DRC’s intelligence agency accused him of plotting the murder of former Congo president Joseph Kabila.
On the other hand, Malanga’s son Marcel remained in the US for most of his life and branded himself as the savior of Congo, which, according to him, is marred by chronic corruption.
The second arrested American, Zalman-Polun, has been convicted of Marijuana trafficking. However, not much information about Thomson is publicly available.
Ekenge also confirmed the involvement of one British man in the coup.
Meanwhile, the US State Department stated that it could not confirm Malanga’s US citizenship, although it acknowledged that the other two arrested individuals are indeed Americans.
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