Via The Guardian: Wave of rebel attacks leads to surge in DRC Ebola cases. Excerpt:
A wave of attacks by rebels and militia on health officials fighting the latest Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo is leading to a surge in reported cases as the response to the lethal disease weakens.
There have been 157 deaths, of which 122 have been confirmed as Ebola cases, in the outbreak, which was declared almost three months ago. The total of probable and confirmed cases has now reached 244, with 63 recovering from infection.
The outbreak is centred on the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, both wracked by armed rebellion and ethnic killing since two civil wars in the late 1990s.
In the city of Butembo, militia killed two members of the medical unit of the Congo’s army on Saturday. The same day, 11 civilians and one soldier were killed in the city of Beni, where scores of people have contracted the virus.
The rebels also attacked Congolese army positions and abducted a dozen children aged between five and 10. Another five people died in an attack near Goma, the capital of North Kivu, on Tuesday.
The new violence comes amid warnings from international health officials that the outbreak could worsen significantly unless the response to the lethal virus is intensified.
It is unclear who carried out the recent attacks. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist group based in Uganda but active in eastern DRC, has clashed with Congolese troops in the city of Beni in recent weeks.
Mai-Mai militia, comprising a number of armed groups that originally formed to resist Rwandan invasions in the 1990s, are also present in the region.
“Some rebel groups use surprise attacks while others attack from different towns at the same time to overstretch the army’s response,” Capt Mak Hazukay, Congolese army spokesperson in North Kivu, said. He said the army is doing everything possible to prevent further attacks on the civilians.
“We suspect the attackers are part of a new rebel movement we are yet to identify,” said Jules Tshikudi, an army spokesperson in Ituri province.
The military’s inability to prevent attacks has led to anger and suspicion.
“How can you fight a group of rebels for weeks without knowing who they are?” Guy Mirimo, a resident of Djugu in Ituri, said. “This is not normal in a country with a working intelligence service.”
The number of cases of Ebola has accelerated in the past two weeks. Half have been in and around Beni, where the response was disrupted last month by a period of official mourning following attacks by armed groups.
