Congolese rebels kill 13 children and kidnap children in Ebola-affected region

of Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro and Cara Anna | JOHANNESBURG – Congolese rebels have killed 13 civilians and kidnapped a dozen children during an attack in the center of the latest Ebola epidemic, Congolese soldiers said Sunday, as violence threatened to end the epidemic. again force the suspension of the crucial confinement efforts of the virus.

Rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces attacked positions of the Congolese army and several neighborhoods of Beni on Saturday and Sunday, Captain Mak Hazukay Mongha told The Associated Press. The rebels have killed hundreds of civilians in recent years and are just one of the rebel groups active in the far northeastern Congo.

Angry at this latest attack, the residents of Beni Sunday morning carried four bodies to the town hall, where the police dispersed them with tear gas.

Late last month, efforts to limit the Ebola outbreak had to be suspended for several days in Beni after a deadly attack by the rebels. Since then, many of the new confirmed cases of Ebola have been reported in Beni, while the number of new cases has more than doubled.

This new attack comes when another armed group shot dead two medical officers of the Congolese army – the first time that health workers were killed by rebels in this epidemic of violence. Ebola.

It's a "dark day" for all those fighting the deadly virus, said Saturday the health minister of Congo.

Mai Mai rebels emerged from the forest and opened up. firing on unarmed agents with the rapid intervention medical unit of the army at an entrance to the town of Butembo, announced the Ministry of Health.

The day attack seemed premeditated, with civilians present being left unharmed, the statement said. The medical officers had been placed in "danger zones" to help the national border health authorities.

Confirmed cases of Ebola have now reached 200, including 117 deaths. Help groups have expressed concern that insecurity and sometimes hostile community resistance have doubled the number of new cases this month.

Health workers participating in this outbreak, declared on 1 August, said they heard gunshots from armed forces of UN peacekeepers or Congolese security forces on a daily basis and an obligation to put an end to the attacks. work at sunset to reduce the risk of attack.

Congo's Ministry of Health reported "numerous badaults" against health workers, and two Red Cross volunteers were seriously injured earlier this month in a confrontation with cautious community members in the country. a region traumatized by decades of fighting and facing for the first time an Ebola outbreak.

"Health workers are not a target for armed groups," said Minister of Health Oly Ilunga. "Our agents will continue to go to the field every day to fulfill the mission entrusted to them. They are true heroes and we will continue to take all necessary steps so that they can do their job safely. "

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared that she was" deeply concerned "by the epidemic but that it still does not warrant it – to be declared a global emergency. An epidemic must be an "extraordinary event" that can cross borders, requiring a coordinated response Confirmed cases have been found near the busy border with the Ugandan border

In the last sign of rumors that Another serious problem to contain the deadly virus, the Ministry of Health told 22 Butembo youths dig up the body of an Ebola victim and opened the mortuary bag, "wanting to check that". no organs were removed from the body by health workers. "

They eventually touched extremely infectious bodily fluids, said the ministry." The next day, they agreed to make themselves cciner ", reaching more than 20,000 people who have been vaccinated so far.

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Maliro reported from Dakar, Senegal.

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