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JOHANNESBURG (AP) – Congolese rebels have killed 15 civilians and kidnapped a dozen children during an attack at the epicenter of the latest deadly Ebola epidemic, said Sunday. The army, which again forced the suspension of crucial efforts to control the virus.
"It will be very difficult to stop the epidemic if this violence continues," said Peter Salama, head of emergency situations at the World Health Organization.
A regional WHO official told the Associated Press that it was difficult to say how long the work would be affected.
Confirmed cases of Ebola reached 202 people in this outbreak, including 118 deaths.
Captain Mak Hazukay Mongha told the AP that rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces had attacked positions of the Congolese army and several neighborhoods of Beni on Saturday and Sunday. The UN peacekeeping mission said its troops had fired shots with rebels in the Mayi region of Beni.
Angry at the killings, residents transported four of the bodies to the town hall, where the police dispersed them with tear gas. While some health workers took refuge in a local hospital, protesters destroyed a number of government buildings and blocked all traffic, the Congolese Ministry of Health said.
The vehicles of humanitarian organizations and the US mission were bombed with stones, reported Radio Okapi, supported by the UN.
The rebels of the ADF have killed hundreds of civilians in recent years and are just one of the many militias active in the far northeastern Congo.
Last month, in Beni, another deadly attack forced the suspension of Ebola control efforts for several days, complicating the work of tracking suspected contacts of infected people. Since then, many of the new confirmed cases of Ebola have been reported in Beni and the rate of new cases has more than doubled, alarming aid groups.
The health efforts deployed in recent weeks have begun to bear fruit and this new attack will "bring us back", told the AP Dr. Michel Yao, responsible for Ebola-related incidents in North Kivu at the 39; WHO.
The works in Beni were suspended Sunday and "tomorrow we do not know yet," said Yao, noting that burials of the victims may be tense. "We understand.We are friendly.It is not easy to lose parents.At the same time, it could affect the response (to the epidemic)."
The attack took place after two Congolese army medical officers were shot dead by another rebel group – the first time health workers were killed in this outbreak.
The Congolese Minister of Health has described this day as a "black day" for all those fighting the Ebola virus.
Mai Mai rebels came out of the forest and opened fire on unarmed agents with the rapid medical intervention unit of the army near Butembo, the health ministry said.
Health workers involved in the outbreak, declared on 1 August, said they heard gunshots every day, operating under armed escort of peacekeepers or Congolese security forces, and ended work at sunset. to reduce the risk of attack.
Community resistance is also a problem and the Ministry of Health of Congo has reported "numerous attacks" against health workers. Earlier this month, two Red Cross volunteers were seriously injured in a confrontation with suspicious residents in a region traumatized by decades of fighting and facing Ebola for the first time.
"Our agents will continue to visit the field every day to fulfill the mission entrusted to them," said Minister of Health Oly Ilunga. "They are real heroes and we will continue to take all necessary steps so that they can do their job safely."
The WHO said Wednesday that she was "deeply concerned" by the epidemic but that it still does not warrant being declared a global emergency. An epidemic must be an "extraordinary event" that could cross borders and require a coordinated response. Confirmed cases have been discovered near the busy border with Uganda.
In the latest example of rumors that pose another serious problem for containing the virus, the Ministry of Health said that 22 youths in Butembo had dug up an Ebola victim and opened the body bag to verify that the agents of health had not removed organs.
They eventually touched extremely infectious bodily fluids, the ministry said. "The next day, they agreed to be vaccinated," joining more than 20,000 people who have been vaccinated so far.
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Maliro reported from Dakar, Senegal.
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