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2018-02-15 Africa Subsaharan
DRC violence risks 'spreading' as 22,000 flee in a week
[Al Jazeera] The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
has expressed its deep concern about ongoing ethnic fighting in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
, warning that the violence that has forced tens of thousands to seek shelter in neighbouring Uganda "may spread further".

More than 22,000 people fled festivities between Hema herders and Lendu farmers in Ituri province last week, according to the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR).

This marked a dramatic increase in the number of people crossing Lake Albert to reach Uganda in search of safety, bringing the overall figure since the start of the year to 34,000.

The latest influx follows what a UNHCR spokesperson called "the latest and biggest wave" in an outbreak of violence that started in the area in December.

"A number of local monitors have confirmed to us that more than 1,000 houses have been burned in Djugu, Ituri territory, which is the epicentre of the violence. The displaced say that groups of gunnies set houses on fire and killed civilians," Andreas Kirchhof told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
Posted by Fred 2018-02-15 00:00|| || Front Page|| [20 views ]  Top

#1 Hasn't changed much since Joseph Conrad's captaincy of a river steamer in the Congo over 100 years ago.
Posted by Alaska Paul 2018-02-15 18:38||   2018-02-15 18:38|| Front Page Top

#2 I thought it was Kerry in Viet Nam, Abu-Alaska?
Posted by Frank G 2018-02-15 20:02||   2018-02-15 20:02|| Front Page Top

#3 I wonder how much African life has changed in the last few thousand years. Sure tastes in clothes are different and everyone has the latest gadgets like cell phones and AKs, but is the culture any different? I suspect the DRC isn't some kind of outlier, but a regression to the mean.

As for Kerry, pity he never found Marlon Brando after all that time looking for him up around the Cambodian border.
Posted by SteveS 2018-02-15 21:06||   2018-02-15 21:06|| Front Page Top

00:47 Raj
00:20 DarthVader









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