Armed men kill at least 33 in Ebola-hit eastern DR Congo village

Attackers set fire to more than 50 houses and a health facility, forcing about 180 patients, including suspected Ebola cases, to flee.Armed men suspected to be members of an Islamic State-linked armed group have killed at least 33 people in an overnight attack on villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to local authorities and civil society groups.

The attackers also set fire to more than 50 houses and a health facility in Cantine, about 50 kilometres west of Beni in North Kivu province, forcing patients, including those suspected of having Ebola, to flee.The attack comes as the region battles an Ebola outbreak that has raised serious public health concerns.Beni territorial administrator, Colonel Charles Omeonga, told Reuters on Friday that fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group set fire to several houses and killed civilians during the raid.Justin Paluku, a local civil society leader, also blamed the ADF for the attack.“So far, we have counted 33 bodies and more than 50 houses set on fire, along with various other forms of material destruction,” he told the Associated Press.

Another civil society leader, Tchetche Aliamini, confirmed the death toll to Reuters, saying most of the victims were shot, while others were burned or hacked with machetes.The violence forced several residents to flee to other parts of the province, further complicating efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.

Among those displaced were about 180 patients at the Kelekele Hospital Centre in Cantine, including suspected Ebola cases and one confirmed patient, according to the facility’s medical director, Christian Kakule.“High-risk contacts and other individuals under monitoring have all fled,” Mr Kakule said.“Our concern is that when probable cases end up out in the open like this, they can become a source of transmission and trigger an outbreak of the disease.”He said gunfire and burning homes were reported as close as 50 metres from the hospital, leaving patients and medical personnel exposed to danger.

The attack has heightened fears that insecurity could undermine efforts to contain the disease, as suspected cases and people under monitoring leave designated health facilities without adequate supervision.The ADF, which has operated in eastern DRC for years, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019 and is among the armed groups responsible for persistent violence in the region.