A police station and a court compound in the DR Congo capital Kinshasa were attacked by gunmen on Friday

A police officer was killed in an attack on a court compound in Democratic Republic of Congo, a judicial source said Saturday, weeks after a mass jailbreak from Kinshasa's main prison.

A magistrate in the Matete district in the east of the capital told AFP that unknown gunmen attacked the court office on Friday night, burning several vehicles parked on the premises.

One police officer was killed and another wounded in the assault, while three prisoners held there were later found to be missing, he added.

A police statement issued later Saturday said the unidentified gunmen had attacked the courthouse after an attack on the police station at Mont Amba, which officers had fought off.

One officer died and another four were seriously wounded, the statement added. One of the attackers was also killed.

The raid comes three weeks after dozens of prisoners escaped Kinshasha's largest jail following a rebel attack on the facility.

The May 17 jailbreak was carried out by followers of Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK), a secessionist rebel group that rejects Kinshasa's authority and wants to set up a parallel state in the west of the country.

Another attack on a prison two days later saw 68 inmates escape a prison in Kasangulu, 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of Kinshasa.