KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- An attempt by police to evict hundreds of people mining without permission on government property in southern Congo turned into a clash that killed a child who was caught in the crossfire, officials said Friday.

A stray bullet hit a 10-year-old boy who was returning home from school Thursday in Likasi, a town in Congo's southern Katanga province, regional minister Jean-Marie Dikanga Kazadi said.
Dikanga said the conflict — which started when police tried to clear hundreds of people from a government-owned copper and cobalt site — had largely calmed by Friday.
""The fighting started when some of the diggers started to throw stones at the police, who then started shooting to defend themselves,"" Dikanga said.
Like many mines in Congo, the site has been left to languish for years and locals have taken to mining what they can get.
Mineral-rich Congo has been trying to reign in its lawless mining sector since elections in 2006 brought a democratically elected government into power for the first time in more than 40 years. Still, the East African country the size of Europe has little control over large swathes of land where miners dig for diamonds, gold and coltan.