Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities have banned imports of several popular consumer products in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo for six months to fight smuggling, Trade Minister Jean-Lucien Busa said Monday. “We have decided on the temporary restriction of imports in the western part of …
Read More »“LRA rebels” kidnap at least 10 in DR Congo
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | At least 10 people, but possibly as many as 40, have been kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo by suspected members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), local sources said Wednesday. “We condemn the kidnapping of 10 people from the village of …
Read More »DR Congo warlord accused of crimes against humanity surrenders
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Congolese rebel warlord Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, wanted for crimes against humanity including mass rape, surrendered to UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday. Sheka was arrested in Mutongo, in the country’s North Kivu region by UN peacekeepers and was “transferred to …
Read More »DR Congo opposition unveil plans to force Kabila out
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Congolese opposition on Saturday unveiled a rolling programme of strikes and civil disobedience aimed at forcing President Joseph Kabila from power. The announcement was made after two days of opposition talks in Kinshasa amid concerns that Kabila, in power since 2001, is seeking …
Read More »UN to close five peacekeepers’ bases in eastern DR Congo
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Five UN peacekeepers’ bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo are to close at the end of July, the UN mission there announced Wednesday, describing it as a change in operational style. But the closures come against the background of cuts to the …
Read More »Seized US journalist in DR Congo found safe
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | A US journalist kidnapped last week by a militia group in DR Congo was found safe early Sunday, officials said, as another source said five people had been killed in clashes. Lisa Dupuy and 11 wardens working for the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) — …
Read More »DRC: 11 park wardens, US journalist feared kidnapped at Okapi wildlife reserve
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | Eleven park wardens and a US journalist in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo are missing amid signs they were kidnapped by a local militia, sources said Saturday. “Eleven guards and an American journalist working for the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) were abducted on Friday …
Read More »Attack at Kinshasa market kills police chief, administrator
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A deputy police commander and the administrator of Kinshasa’s central market were killed Friday in an attack by unknown assailants that also freed prisoners, police and witnesses said. The assailants attacked the administrator’s office and the police station at the market allowing inmates being …
Read More »DRC declares end of Ebola outbreak
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Congolese health minister on Saturday declared the end of an Ebola outbreak in a remote northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo which caused four deaths in the area. On May 12, officials declared an outbreak of the highly contagious disease, the …
Read More »Slippage in the DR Congo: Where are the UN and South Africa?
ANALYSIS: In past crises, the United Nations and South Africa have played important roles in stabilising the situation in the DRC – @africaarguments Pretoria, South Africa| CARMEL RAWHANI & MÉLANIE RONDREUX | African ARGUMENTS | In 2016, one of the defining terms when it came to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) political situation …
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