Brazzaville, Congo Republic ? Battles between forces loyal to Congo’s President Joseph Kabila and those of his main campaign rival raged for a second day Monday, after election officials announced that Kabila had failed to win an outright majority.

The election was Congo’s first in more than four decades.

The U.N. sent peacekeepers to evacuate foreign diplomats who were trapped inside challenger Jean-Pierre Bemba’s besieged home when gunfire broke out.

U.N. spokesman Jean-Tobias Okala said U.N. troops safely evacuated top foreign diplomats from Bemba’s home, where they were meeting the candidate when fighting erupted outside his compound.