Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Beset by ethnic divisions, political tensions and bloody fighting in its east, Democratic Republic of Congo faces fresh challenges in the coming months over feared delays to eagerly-awaited presidential elections. Concern about the timetable has created “tensions and a climate of uncertainty,” the UN’s …
Read More »No DRC presidential poll before 2019
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s electoral commission announced Wednesday that the vote to replace President Joseph Kabila expected by the end of the year will not happen before the start of 2019. Kabila officially ended his term in office in December, but he was allowed to stay …
Read More »UN says peacekeeper killed in attack on DR Congo base
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Rebels from a Ugandan-dominated group on Monday attacked a UN military base in DR Congo’s unstable east, killing one peacekeeper and injuring 12 others, the UN mission said. The attack took place in Beni where UN soldiers have been battling the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), …
Read More »DR Congo violence pushes thousands into Zambia
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Several thousand people have fled to Zambia in the past month to escape violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN said Tuesday. The UN refugee agency said 3,360 people from DR Congo’s conflict-wracked southeast had entered Zambia since August 30, the largest influx of its …
Read More »Military plane crashes in DR Congo
At least 11 dead as DR Congo army plane crashes Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A transport plane chartered by the Congolese army crashed near Kinshasa on Saturday, killing at least 11 people, military and airport sources told AFP. The Antonov transporter had just taken off with “several dozen …
Read More »Burundi radio station suspended for criticising killings
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The director of a Burundi radio station said Friday his outlet is being temporarily taken off air after criticising the government over the killings of dozens of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). CCIB FM+, which is run by Burundi’s chamber of commerce, …
Read More »Kabila at UN pledges DR Congo elections but still no date
United Nations, United States | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila told the United Nations on Saturday that his country is moving towards holding elections but vowed to resist “foreign diktats” on setting a date for the historic vote. Addressing the General Assembly, Kabila appealed for support from …
Read More »US, EU slam DR Congo army for using ‘excessive force’
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The United States and European Union on Wednesday urged Congolese security forces to refrain from using “excessive force” after soldiers fired on Burundian refugees last week, killing over 30. “The US government is dismayed by the violence and death of more than 30 Burundian nationals …
Read More »NORTH KIVU: 12 dead, 92 missing as floods hit eastern DR Congo
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | At least 12 people died and 92 were missing after heavy rains caused flooding in two villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an official said Wednesday. “The provisional toll after torrential rain hit the villages of Bihambwe and Matanda in Masisi Territory is …
Read More »17 bodies found in DR Congo east border lake
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | The bodies of 17 civilians apparently fleeing violence in the troubled North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo were found in Lake Edward, a local official said Tuesday. The civilians “drowned trying to flee clashes between the Mai-Mai and soldiers from the …
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