Plus de 80 000 personnes déplacées en un mois

More than 80,000 people displaced in a month

Violence in the DRC

“Between August 11 and 13, a series of attacks carried out by armed groups in several villages, including Iga Barrière, made seven dead civilians and 13 injured, according to local authorities and civil society”. More than 80,000 people fled violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in one month, the United Nations alerted on Friday.

“Humanitarian sources report that around 82,800 people were moved between mid-July and mid-August to the health areas of Nizi, Lita, Bambu and Mangala,” said the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) in its latest report. These attacks notably affected the sites of displaced people from Lindji, IGA 1 and Mudhu. Several hundred houses have been looted and burnt down. The security situation has deteriorated sharply in the last days in the territory of Djugu, in Ituri.
More than 47 dead or less than a month
Since mid-July, attacks and clashes involving various armed groups and the Congolese armed forces in the health areas of Nizi, Linga, Fataki and Lita have left “47 dead and 33 injured”, and more than a dozen civilians have also been removed during these incidents.
This new outbreak of violence has intervened in a context of continuous deterioration of the security context for a month. Access to basic services is seriously compromised in affected areas. In the Nizi health area alone, nine of the 12 health structures are made non-operational due to looting, fires or the leak of medical staff. Local partners report that displaced populations have settled in schools, churches and other public buildings, disturbing services and activities in vital infrastructure. As a result, more than 256,000 people find themselves isolated and deprived of access to humanitarian assistance. “The routing of humanitarian aid is also compromised,” said the humanitarian business coordination office, stressing that “the national road 27 (RN27), the main logistics axis for the Nizi, Fataki, Bambu, Mangala and Rethy areas, remains paralyzed by fighting”.

ADF behind attacks
In addition, the security situation has also deteriorated in the south of the province of Ituri, following incursions and attacks attributed to the rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the territory of Irumu. “These incidents are perceived as reprisals following the launch, on July 6, of military operations against this group in the neighboring territory of Mambasa. The Komanda – Luna axis is particularly affected ”. At least 52 civilians were killed in the Komanda health zone, including 43 in the only locality of Komanda-Center between July 26 and 28, the civil society of Ituri reports that at least 127 civilians were killed in armed violence in the province between June 27 and August 12. Faced with rapid deterioration of the situation, the OCHA calls on all parties to take urgent measures to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.
Samir Sabek