Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Six civilians were hacked to death in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in an attack by Ugandan Islamist rebels, local officials said Tuesday. Fighters from the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a small village in North Kivu province on Monday, …
Read More »Advantage Mazembe after away draw in final
Blida, Algeria | AFP | Reluctant favourites TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo are poised to win the CAF Confederation Cup after drawing 1-1 at Mouloudia Bejaia of Algeria Saturday in the first leg of the final. Jonathan Bolingi, one of four Congolese in the Mazembe starting line-up, …
Read More »Great Lakes leaders want UN force in DRC bolstered amid unrest fears
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Leaders of the Great Lakes region called Thursday for the UN peacekeeping force in strife-torn DR Congo to be bolstered, as fears rise of an upsurge in violence linked to delayed presidential polls. At the end of two-day talks, they called for more contributions to …
Read More »Bemba, aides guilty of bribery during ICC war crimes trial
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | International judges on Wednesday found former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and four close aides guilty of bribing and corrupting witnesses in a bid to derail his landmark war crimes trial. The case was “about the clear, and downright criminal behaviour of the five …
Read More »Cuddles and Kalashnikovs: Protecting DR Congo’s mountain gorillas
Rumangabo, DR Congo | AFP | A powerful combination of love and guns is helping rebuild an endangered gorilla community in the jungles of war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Threatened with extinction, some of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas live on either side of the border between Rwanda …
Read More »How much is child soldier’s lost youth worth? ICC asks
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | “How do you calculate a lost childhood?” That was the question Tuesday before war crimes judges trying to set the amount of landmark reparations to be paid to former Congolese child soldiers. After years of hearings, trials and appeals before the International Criminal Court …
Read More »At least 10 dead as army, Ugandan rebels clash in DR Congo
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | At least 10 people were killed Sunday night in clashes between the army and suspected Ugandan rebels in east DR Congo, activists said, in an area that has suffered a string of massacres since 2014. “Suspected ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) attacked Beni from the …
Read More »DRC electoral commission seeks to delay vote to late 2017
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission on Saturday said it would seek to delay calling voters to the polls until late 2017, though the opposition swiftly rejected the proposal. The announcement came amid opposition fears that President Joseph Kabila will not step …
Read More »US blacklists top allies of DR Congo President Kabila
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Treasury placed two top allies of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday, tying both to rising political violence and human rights violations. The Treasury said both were involved in violently putting down opposition to Kabila and …
Read More »UN warns DRC, ‘The writing is on the wall’
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The UN rights chief on Thursday said DR Congo had used “excessive force” during deadly clashes with demonstrators in the capital and called on Kinshasa to reach out to the opposition to avert a “large-scale crisis” “The authorities need to pull back from …
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