Eight UN peacekeepers killed in eastern DR Congo

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Eight UN peacekeepers were killed in clashes with militias in an area that is at the center of the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) worst Ebola epidemic, United Nations and diplomatic sources said on Thursday.

"Our peacekeeping colleagues tell us that six peacekeepers from Malawi and one from Tanzania who are part of the UN peacekeeping operation in the DRC ... were killed yesterday, in Beni territory, in North Kivu," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The deaths mark the biggest loss by the UN force in the DRC since rebels killed 15 troops nearly a year ago.

Eastern DRC has been plagued by banditry and armed insurrections for more than two decades, but the past year has seen a surge in violence around North Kivu. Many armed groups vied for control of the mineral-rich region. Since October 2014, the Allied Democratic Forces group, the rebels responsible for Wednesday's attack, have killed more than 1,500 people in the Beni region.

A health worker carries a baby suspected of having Ebola in Butembo, November 4, 2018. ‍/VCG Photo

Beni and the surrounding villages are also suffering an Ebola epidemic that has left more than 200 dead. This makes it the third worst outbreak ever, after a 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa when 28,000 people were infected, and in Uganda in 2000, when there were 425 cases.

Repeated armed attacks by rebel groups are hampering international efforts to contain the virus, by preventing medical workers getting to Ebola victims.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is said to call on all armed groups to stop their destabilizing activities, which continue to add to the suffering of the population and complicate the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

(Source: AP, Reuters)