1961 Photo Contest, Photo Stories, 1st prize
Photographer

André Lefèbvre

01 September, 1960

Soldiers of the Congolese government troops after a violent clash near the village of Lukengele, 15 miles outside the city of Bakwanga (now called Mbuji-Mayi) in Kasai province. In June 1960, Congo gained independence from Belgium. Almost immediately, a period of violent turmoil, the so-called Congo Crisis, broke out which only ended in 1966 when Joseph Mobutu seized power. In August 1960, the autonomous Mining State of South Kasai was proclaimed, with its capital at Bakwanga and Luba chief Albert Kalonji as president. Patrice Lumumba, newly elected prime minister of the Congo, launched a bloody campaign to bring the rebellious province under government control, causing the deaths of hundreds of Luba tribesmen. The photos were made in early September 1960, when André Lefèbvre, together with American journalist Henry N. Taylor and French reporter christian d'Epenox, accompanied Congo government troops on their mission in the Kasai region. Taylor was killed in the clash with the Luba tribesmen near Lukengele.

About the photographer

André Lefèbvre

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