Attacks by armed groups have an increasingly devastating impact on the population, particularly in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) reported.

According to the agency, armed groups accounted for the 95 percent of the documented deaths, that is more than twice as many as in the same period last year.

MONUSCO documented violations and abuses against human rights defenders, journalists and opposition figures, including extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions by security services.

In the opinion of the agency, the rest of the year presents an equally bleak picture.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warned that the upsurge in conflicts and displacements in eastern Congo is pushing children into the worst cholera crisis since 2017.

More than 21,400 confirmed or suspected cases have been registered in North Kivu, the most affected province, including more than 8,000 children under the age of five.

This confirms that the country is facing one of the worst displacement crises in the world, with millions of people forced to take refuge in overcrowded camps with scarce water and sanitation.

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