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Congolese soldiers on patrol in the city of Beni (archive image)
Photo: Jerome Delay / AP
According to official information, an explosion in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo resulted in deaths and injuries.
The government spoke on Saturday of a suicide bomber and the loss of life, without providing information on the number of victims.
Eyewitnesses reported via Twitter that the explosion on Christmas Day occurred in a busy restaurant in the city of Beni.
Videos showed people lying on the floor between torn chairs and tables.
Beni Mayor Narcisse Muteba Kashale, who is also a police colonel, said at least two of the victims were children.
Wounded survivors were taken to the local hospital, Kashale said.
"Investigations are ongoing to find the perpetrators of this terrorist attack," he told the US news agency AP.
The background to the explosion was initially unclear in the evening.
Beni is located in the north of the Central African state.
Several rebel groups are active in the crisis-ridden province of North Kivu.
According to UN figures, the rebel group ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), which is linked to the "Islamic State" (IS), has killed more than 200 people and displaced 40,000 since the beginning of the year.
The ADF has been active in the region since the 1990s.
jso / dpa / AP / Reuters