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Geneva (AFP) – Efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Beni region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have resumed after a brief suspension following clashes , announced Sunday the World Health Organization.
"Sunday, all activities were revived, including vaccination," said the UN health agency in a statement.
The DRC Ministry of Health had announced the suspension of operations in Beni after deadly clashes Friday just meters away from a local emergency center and several intervention teams' hotels.
MONUSCO peacekeepers repelled an Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia offensive in the northern Boikene neighborhood of Beni, according to a ministry statement.
The ADF, a ghost armed group that has killed hundreds of people since 2014 and at least seven peacekeepers during clashes last week, wanted to "attack one of MONUSCO's bases," the statement said.
The WHO said all health workers involved in the Ebola response were safe, but said that 16 of its staff in Beni had been temporarily evacuated to Goma for psychological care after the building in which they found had been hit by an unexploded shell.
Michel Yao, WHO coordinator for Ebola control operations in Beni, told AFP Saturday that no one had been hurt, adding that he did not know if this shell came from the forces of the ADF or MONUSCO.
Since August 1, the Ebola outbreak in Beni, which affected up to 300,000 people, has killed 213 people.
To date, 30 health workers have been infected, including three deaths, according to WHO.
The UN said the unrest hampered efforts to contain the disease in an area that has suffered for decades from the interethnic bloodshed and militia violence.
"WHO will continue to work alongside the ministry and our partners to put an end to this Ebola outbreak," said WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday.
"We honor the memory of those who have died in combat, and we deplore the threats to the safety of those who are still working to put an end to it," he added.
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