Violence, disease rage in DR Congo as humanitarian crisis deepens

A combination of factors has made life extremely difficult for impoverished African nation plagued by continued internal conflicts.

Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 14 people in an overnight attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday night, VOA reported on Friday.

The assailants are believed to be rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, a Ugandan armed group based in eastern Congo that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and frequently raids villages, and plunders them.

Violent clashes between non-state armed groups and government forces have displaced more than 450,000 people in the last six weeks in Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu province.

UNHCR said its monitoring in the region has showed over 3,000 reported human rights violations in October, nearly double the figure from the previous month.

The UN agencies said the severity of the crisis is further exacerbated by the limited humanitarian access to those in dire need, mainly due to the obstruction of major routes, with some 200,000 displaced people cut off from aid.

Also, a total of 12,569 suspected mpox cases, including 581 deaths, were recorded from Jan. 1 through Nov. 12 this year in 156 health zones in 22 out of 26 provinces of the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement Thursday.