BRAZZAVILLE, Nov 21, 2023 (AFP) – Thirty-seven youths were killed in a stampede overnight during an army recruitment drive in a stadium in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, officials said on Tuesday. Last week, the army in the central African nation also known as Congo-Brazzaville, announced it was recruiting 1,500 people aged between 18 and 25. Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso said 37 people had been killed in the “tragedy,” with an […]
Tag: congo
Danish oil tanker crew kidnapped off W.Africa rescued
COPENHAGEN, May 8, 2023 (AFP) – Six crew members kidnapped by pirates last month from a Danish oil tanker off Congo have been rescued from Nigeria, the ship’s owner said Monday. The Liberian-flagged Monjasa Reformer had 16 sailors on board when it was attacked by pirates on March 25. Despite being owned by a Danish company, none of the crew were Danish. When the 135-metre-long (443-feet) tanker was found by the French navy the following […]
Italian envoy killed in DR Congo; attack blamed on Rwandan Hutu rebels
by Marthe BOSUANDOLE and Bienvenu-Marie BAKUMANYA GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo was among three people killed on Monday when a UN convoy was ambushed in the country’s troubled east, violence the DRC’s president called a “terrorist attack” and that was blamed on a Rwandan Hutu rebel group. Luca Attanasio died of his wounds after a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy came under gunfire near Goma while he […]
DFA repatriates over 800 OFWs from UK, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Australia
(Eagle News)–The Department of Foreign Affairs has recently repatriated over 800 Overseas Filipino Workers. In a statement, the DFA said 818 OFWs from the UK, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo and Australia arrived on three separate chartered flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday afternoon and early morning Friday. The DFA said the repatriates underwent a rapid testing upon their arrival. They were also briefed on quarantine protocols before they were transported […]
DR Congo: Ebola claims over 1,000 lives, Guterres commits ‘whole’ UN system, to help ‘end the outbreak’
Now in its tenth month, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than a thousand lives, prompting Secretary-General António Guterres to throw the support of “the whole United Nations system” into stemming the spread of the deadly virus. Mr. Guterres expressed concern over the number of new Ebola cases in the east of the DRC on Wednesday, reiterating UN support “for efforts to end the outbreak”. “With important […]
Fish shortage sparks conflict on Africa’s Great Lakes
RWENSHAMA, Uganda ( AFP)- Ugandan navy speedboats sliced through murky Lake Edward towards a fleet of wooden canoes carrying illegal fishermen from the Democratic Republic of Congo, hightailing it back to their own waters. “Stop the boat, hands up, surrender any weapons,” yelled Lieutenant Deogratius Kato as the soldiers surrounded a motorized canoe after a 20-minute chase, pointing guns at two terrified fishermen. The rest of the boats escaped to the safety of Congolese waters, leaving a trail of […]
Dozens killed in troubled eastern DR Congo province
BUNIA, DR Congo (AFP) – Dozens of people were killed overnight in fresh clashes in DR Congo’s volatile northeastern Ituri province, sharpening an ethnic conflict that has already forced tens of thousands to flee, officials said Tuesday. At least 30 people were killed in the latest unrest, which came in the wake of the interior minister’s visit to the region. “We have recorded 30 deaths. There are certainly other bodies out in the bush. A search is underway,” a […]
At least 15 peacekeepers killed in Congo; dubbed worst attack on UN in recent history
by Albert Kambale with Philippe Rater at the United Nations Agence France Presse The United Nations suffered its worst attack on a peacekeeping mission in nearly a quarter of a century on Friday when suspected Ugandan rebels attacked a base in the restive Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 15 peacekeepers. The UN Security Council said the peacekeepers, who were all from neighboring Tanzania, were killed in the North Kivu province late Thursday, […]
Up to 250 feared dead in DRCongo mudslide
by Marthe Bosuandole Agence France-Presse BUNIA, DR Congo – As many as 250 people are feared dead after a massive mudslide swept over a fishing village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the government came under fire for its slow response. The search for survivors has been called off after last week’s disaster, which devastated Tara, a fishing village on the shores of Lake Albert on the country’s northeastern border with Uganda. Pacifique Keta, deputy head of […]
Ebola outbreak in remote part of DR Congo
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP ) – The first Ebola outbreak since the crisis in West Africa that killed 11,300 people has been declared in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday, after the virus caused three deaths in the area. In a television address, Health Minister Oly Ilunga confirmed the cases while urging the population “not to panic”. The country “has taken all necessary measures to respond quickly and efficiently to […]
Congo at crossroads as opposition chief Tshisekedi dies
by Bienvenu-Marie BAKUMANYA Agence France-Presse KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – Volatile Congo faced uncertainty Thursday after the death of Etienne Tshisekedi, the veteran politician who recently banded the opposition together to end President Joseph Kabila’s rule of the mineral-rich nation. Business was slow and some shops closed in Democratic Republic of Congo’s usually bustling capital of 10 million people, Kinshasa, where large crowds gathered around Tshisekedi’s home and the headquarters of his UDPS party. Kabila, […]
UN warns ‘large-scale crisis’ possible in DR Congo
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – by Bienvenu-Marie BAKUMANYA 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 their extremely confrontational position and build bridges with the opposition,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement issued in Geneva in the wake of […]
