US nationals detained over DRC attempted coup

Three American nationals have been arrested over their alleged involvement in a failed coup in the DRC. Video footage shows two of the suspects pleading for mercy as they were surrounded by government forces following a shootout in Kinshasa on Sunday. Reports in local media suggested the arrested men were CIA operatives. 'I am shocked by the events this morning and very worried by the reports of American citizens allegedly being involved,' Lucy Tamlyn, the US ambassador to the DRC, posted on X, The Daily Mail reports that the DRC military named the coup leader as Christian Malanga, a US educated former refugee who was a 'naturalised American' and had been 'definitively neutralised' by the security forces. His son Marcel was among those accused of taking part and seized by the military as they retook control. Footage on social media showed a passport allegedly seized from one of the Americans bearing the name Benjamin Zalman-Polun, a 36-year-old born in Maryland. Zalman-Polun reportedly has a background as a cannabis entrepreneur and had been previously linked to Malanga.