Chinese men accused of running illegal gold mine in Congo

Seventeen Chinese men have been arrested on suspicion of running an illegal gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said there on Friday, as the government pressed on with a crackdown on unlicensed extraction of its minerals.

The men were brought into the press conference called to announce their detention in Bukavu, the main town in strife-torn South Kivu province. They sat on chairs without restraints and did not speak to journalists.

The men were arrested after a government delegation made an unannounced visit to the mine site in the village of Karhembo on Thursday, the province's finance minister and acting mines minister, Bernard Muhindo, said.

"We asked them to present us with the company's documents. There were no documents, zero. No certificate, no status, no national identification, nothing," Muhindo said.

Around 60 Chinese nationals were at the site and officials detained 17 who appeared to be in charge, along with some people from Congo and neighbouring Burundi, he added.

The Chinese embassy in Kinshasa did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Burundi's embassy said it was still waiting for details from its representative in Bukavu.

The central African country says it has been struggling to stop unlicensed companies and in some cases armed groups from exploiting its rich reserves of cobalt, copper, gold and other minerals.

Competition over mining operations has fuelled fighting in the region that borders Rwanda.

In July, the province's governor, Jean-Jacques Purusi Sadiki, suspended mining operations there and ordered companies and operators to leave in a bid to "restore order to mining operations".

They were later resumed but authorities said they would continue investigations into the sector.