An attacker from the Ebola center killed in the DRC

Police and soldiers have repelled the attack of an Ebola treatment center in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) overnight, killing an assailant, a leader said Monday. government.

The deceased belonged to the rebel group Mai-Mai, told AFP Sylvain Kanyamanda, Mayor of Butembo, in the province of North Kivu.

"Security forces prevented the attackers from crossing a 40-meter perimeter" around the Ebola treatment center.

The province of North Kivu is at the center of a new epidemic of viral disease that has killed more than 1,100 people since last August on about 1,600 infected people, according to the authorities. Of these, 99 health workers were infected and 34 died.

The Ebola response in the region is hampered by the presence of warring armed groups, including the Mai-Mai, and the local population who refuse treatment and ignore prevention advice.