from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRC
DRC Bureau
KINSHASA, (CAJ News) – ARMED groups have killed no less than 150 people since the beginning of the year in one of the hotspots of banditry in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The crisis is in the North Kivu town of Beni, where about 50 000 people have been displaced and need humanitarian aid.
United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and humanitarian partners disclosed the figures, covering the period January 1 to February 23.
The Kamango health zone, considered as a reception area for displaced people so far, has been the most affected since the beginning of the year.
At least eight attacks have left around 40 dead.
A health centre was set on fire, forcing a humanitarian organization to partially suspend its health assistance project.
Kamango hosts nearly 40 000 displaced people who fled armed attacks between December 2021 and January 2022.
These uprooted individuals joined the 16,000 others who had already been living there for several months without emergency assistance in terms of food and essential household items.
OCHA lamented that humanitarian actors intervening from Beni were finding it difficult to deploy aid.
“Some have suspended their projects or temporarily relocated their teams due to insecurity,” said a humanitarian spokesperson.
Regional leaders recently met in DRC to find solutions to the myriad of conflicts in the country.
DRC has been unstable since independence in 1960.
– CAJ News