An attack in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, forced patients suspected of having Ebola to flee a medical center. ISIS claimed responsibility and said at least 60 people were killed; local authorities reported 33 deaths. (Foto: Instagram)
The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility for an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that forced patients suspected of having Ebola to flee a medical center. The attack took place Friday, Nov. 6, in North Kivu province in the country’s east. The report described more than 40 people killed, while local authorities counted 33 deaths.
In a statement released Monday, Nov. 9, ISIS said it had killed at least 60 “Christians.” The group’s claim differs from the toll reported by local officials. The account did not provide further details explaining the discrepancy.
The attack also drove residents from their homes to seek refuge in neighboring areas. About 180 patients at Kelekele Hospital were among those displaced, the facility’s medical director, Christian Kakule, told Al Jazeera. The patients were suspected of having Ebola.
The World Health Organization has identified North Kivu as the second-worst-affected province in an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 5,000 people in the country, according to a recent report. The source account also said Africa has become a global center of terrorism amid the movement of jihadist groups to the continent, which it linked to ISIS losing influence in the Middle East after territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria in the early 2010s was retaken.
