The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 270,000 people, mostly women and children, are sheltering in over 60 sites across the province of Ituri, many of which lack adequate access to water, sanitation and health services.
The office said the United Nations has received reports from local partners that, between Wednesday and Thursday, at least 13 people died in two camps in Bunia, the capital of Ituri. Response teams are urgently investigating whether these deaths are linked to Ebola. Since April, at least 62 deaths have been reported in camps around the city.
“These deaths are occurring amid a broader Ebola flare-up in Bunia, where mistrust of health facilities, congestion, gaps in prevention measures and unsafe handling of bodies are driving transmission risks among people in displacement camps,” OCHA said. “This is particularly concerning as Ituri province remains the epicentre of the outbreak, accounting for more than 90 percent of confirmed cases.”
The office said that as of Wednesday, local authorities had reported 896 confirmed Ebola cases across Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
OCHA said it is working with its partners and local authorities to strengthen community engagement and scale up health and sanitation efforts in the camps. The current measures are insufficient, given the scale of the needs.
“The Ebola epidemic is unfolding against the backdrop of a broader humanitarian crisis,” the office said, adding that the 2026 humanitarian response plan, which calls for 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, seeks to respond to the full spectrum of humanitarian needs, including food security, protection, water and sanitation, health care and education, for 7.3 million of the DRC’s most vulnerable people.
Yet the appeal is only just over half funded, OCHA noted.
A drone view of displaced people from the Kigonze camp attending the burial of Ebola victims at Nyamurongo Cemetery, one month after an outbreak was declared, in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, June 18, 2026.
Twenty-one new confirmed cases, including six deaths, were reported Wednesday in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, the health ministry said in its daily update. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, has affected 33 health zones across three eastern provinces –Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
Health authorities said 383 patients were either in isolation or hospitalized, while 78 patients had recovered, including 11 newly declared recoveries following negative control tests.
A total of 151 suspected cases, including 35 deaths, were also reported on Wednesday. Authorities said 6,367 contacts were under follow-up across the three provinces, of whom 4,525 were reached during the reporting period, representing a follow-up rate of 71.1 percent.
The report said the number of confirmed cases continued to rise week by week, indicating ongoing community transmission. It also warned that rapid geographic spread remained possible if public health measures were not implemented swiftly.
The current outbreak, the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak, was officially declared on May 15.
Twenty-one new confirmed cases, including six deaths, were reported Wednesday in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, the health ministry said in its daily update.
Intelligence reports indicated that as of June 2025, the FDLR comprised between 7,000 and 10,000 fighters. In November of that year, its military spokesperson, Lt Col Octavien Mutimura, admitted that the group had a large number of combatants capable of confronting any force attacking it.
When former M23 fighters resumed armed rebellion in late 2021, their objective was not only to fight the Congolese army (FARDC) but also to dislodge the FDLR from Congolese territory, as the terrorist group had continued to persecute Congolese Tutsis in various areas, looting their property, raping women, and killing some of them.
At the time, many FDLR fighters were based in areas of Virunga National Park, near Mount Nyiragongo. General Omega was stationed at a military camp known as “Paris” in Rutshuru Territory, which also served as the main headquarters of the terrorist group founded by individuals involved in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Militarily, General Omega is assisted by Maj Gen Cyprien Uzabakiriho, known as “Ave Maria.” Military intelligence (G2) is headed by Brig Gen Sébastien Uwimbabazi, known as “Nyembo Abdallah,” who also coordinates FDLR fighters operating in Masisi and Walikale.
The FDLR-FOCA militia group, militarily led by Pacifique Ntawunguka, commonly known as “General Omega,” continues to strengthen itself both militarily and politically, in line with a plan to destabilise Rwanda.
FDLR military operations (G3) are generally led by Brig Gen Lucien Nzabanita, while the elite unit known as CRAP is commanded by Col Pierre-Célestin Rurakabije, known as “Simba Guillaume.” On another level, Col Gustave Kubwayo, known as “Sirkoof,” is also mentioned as leading one of the group’s military sectors.
The FDLR’s command structure closely resembles that of the defeated former Rwandan Armed Forces (Ex-FAR), and many of its senior military officers are former members of that army. General Omega himself served as a lieutenant until the end of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, after which he fled to what was then Zaire (now the DRC).
In training sessions given to FDLR fighters, they are consistently told that Hutus should be the ones to rule Rwanda and that they must reclaim power through armed struggle. These sessions also instill hatred, ethnic division, and genocide ideology.
These trainings are conducted in camps led by Brig Gen Mutunzi Bernard, known as “Manzi,” according to investigations by Africa Intelligence. The camps are regularly visited by senior FDLR leaders.
Col Protogène Ruvugayimikore, who previously commanded CRAP before being killed by his own colleagues in December 2023, was one of the key figures responsible for indoctrinating new FDLR recruits. All these politically oriented activities are overseen by the group’s president, Lt Gen Gaston Iyamuremye, known as “Victor Byiringiro” or “Rumuri.”
How the FDLR started collaborating with Congolese forces
When the M23 rebellion resumed, the FDLR had already lost several senior leaders in both its military wing, such as Gen Sylvestre Mudacumura, and its political leadership, including Ignace Murwanashyaka, its then president. The group saw an opportunity to collaborate with the Congolese army, which had previously opposed it, and exploited this situation to its advantage.
The Congolese army had long shown interest in such cooperation, believing that the FDLR had experience in jungle and mountainous warfare and possessed deep knowledge of eastern DRC terrain due to more than 30 years of presence in the region.
In May 2022, a meeting was held in Pinga, Walikale Territory, bringing together armed groups and the Congolese army. It was initiated by Maj Gen Peter Cirimwami Nkuba, who was responsible for military operations in North Kivu.
That meeting, attended by FDLR representatives, led to a formal decision to cooperate, under the premise that they shared a common enemy: M23. The Congolese army promised these armed groups salaries and military supplies.
One of the notable examples of this cooperation was an attack carried out in Nturo village in Masisi Territory in October 2023. It involved FARDC special units known as “Hiboux,” led by Major Peter Kabwe, CRAP fighters under Lt Noheli Nyiringabo known as “Seigneur de Guerre,” as well as members of Congolese armed groups collectively known as Wazalendo.
In October 2023, Nturo village, inhabited mainly by Congolese Tutsis, was set ablaze. Survivor testimonies indicate that the attack was carried out by the FDLR and Wazalendo groups under the coordination of the Congolese army.
This cooperation did not prevent the defeat of the Congolese government coalition, as AFC/M23 continued to capture large areas in North Kivu, forcing government forces to retreat toward the southern areas near Goma city.
Some FDLR fighters reportedly operated from FARDC positions in Mubambiro, about 20 kilometers from Goma, where they prepared joint military operations with government forces and Wazalendo militias.
At the beginning of 2025, M23, by then operating under the AFC/M23 alliance, intensified attacks in Rutshuru, Masisi, and Nyiragongo territories. General Omega and his fighters fled, with some moving to Shingisha in Masisi and others to Walikale.
Intelligence reports indicate that FARDC continues to cooperate with the FDLR at a high level, with involvement extending even to the Kinshasa government, unlike in the past when coordination was mainly driven by North Kivu-based officers.
It is reported that Brig Gen Uwimbabazi (G2) and Brig Gen Nzabanita (G3) were tasked by General Omega to maintain constant communication with FARDC leadership regarding cooperation, including planning and execution of joint operations.
In March 2026, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the FARDC in charge of operations and intelligence, Maj Gen Jacques Nduru Ychaligonza, arrived in Kisangani in Tshopo Province, stating that his mission from Kinshasa was to launch operations aimed at dismantling the FDLR.
Reports indicate that during this time, Maj Gen Ychaligonza met General Omega, and they discussed plans for FDLR fighters to reposition into AFC/M23-controlled areas in Rutshuru, with the aim of allowing the DRC government to later claim to the international community that it lacked the capacity to dismantle the group, arguing that it was operating outside its control.
Maj Gen Ychaligonza arrived in Kisangani on March 29. Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, stated last week that within just 48 hours, around 700 weapons were delivered to the FDLR.
As relations between Rwanda and the DRC deteriorated, President Félix Tshisekedi has repeatedly hosted Rwandan individuals in Kinshasa involved in plans to destabilise the Rwandan government, including Jean-Luc Habyarimana, son of former President Juvénal Habyarimana, as well as former Rwandan officials in exile.
Reports also indicate that Tshisekedi recently met former FDLR officials, including Faustin Murego, a former adviser to Murwanashyaka during his tenure as FDLR president, and Thaddée Kwitonda, who is wanted by Belgian justice over alleged involvement in the Genocide against the Tutsi.
On January 25, 2025, Tshisekedi’s wife, Denise Nyakeru, visited wounded combatants receiving treatment in Kinshasa, including a fighter from the FDLR’s elite CRAP unit.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that five response workers were briefly detained on Tuesday by armed groups in Ituri province, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, accounting for more than 90 percent of all confirmed cases.
The office said that in South Kivu province, access remains heavily restricted in several areas as fighting continues to force civilians to flee. Nearly 20,000 people were forced from their homes on Monday, following clashes in Mwenga and Shabunda territories. Displaced families need food, shelter, health care, safe drinking water and protection.
OCHA said that in Fizi territory, humanitarian access also remains under pressure, as repeated interference by armed groups continues to threaten aid delivery and the safety of humanitarian workers.
In South Kivu alone, between January and May, at least 57 incidents directly affecting humanitarians were recorded, including threats against staff, interference in aid delivery, and movement restrictions.
“Despite these immense challenges, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners continue to support national authorities in containing the outbreak and deliver assistance,” OCHA said. “However, humanitarian personnel cannot operate safely without security guarantees.”
The UN reiterates its call on all parties to protect civilians and ensure safe, rapid and unhindered access to those in need.
Red Cross workers bury an Ebola victim at the Rwampara Cemetery, in Rwampara, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa) CORRECTION: City corrected to Rwampara, instead of Bunia
According to the latest figures released by the DRC health ministry, the case fatality rate stood at 23.4 percent. A total of 49 patients had recovered, while 376 patients remained in isolation.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, remains concentrated in major hotspot zones, particularly Bunia, Mongbwalu and Rwampara in the Ituri province.
According to a report published Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), the widening geographic distribution of affected health zones, persistent transmission in urban and mining-linked settings, suboptimal contact follow-up rates in some provinces and ongoing insecurity in affected areas continue to complicate response operations and increase the risk of further spread within the DRC and to neighboring countries.
WHO said that the outbreak continued to deteriorate, with sustained community transmission, increasing numbers of cases and deaths, and ongoing geographic expansion across Ituri and North Kivu provinces. Spread into newly affected zones highlighted continued expansion beyond the initial epicenters, the report said.
In neighboring Uganda, according to WHO, no new confirmed cases were reported during the reporting period. However, the continued epidemiological link to transmission in the DRC underscores the ongoing risk of cross-border spread and secondary transmission. Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases, including 2 deaths, said on Tuesday the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in a daily update.
In North Kivu, provincial health authorities said that a woman and her child who had tested positive for Ebola were taken away late Monday by “armed men”. The WHO said that response efforts remain constrained by multiple factors, including community resistance in affected areas.
The DRC declared the latest Ebola outbreak on May 15. The affected areas are located in the country’s conflict-hit east, where armed violence, displacement and weak health infrastructure have posed persistent challenges to the response.
A health worker disinfects a vehicle at an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on June 16, 2026. The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has risen to 837, including 196 deaths, as health authorities and international partners warned that the outbreak continues to deteriorate with sustained community transmission and geographic expansion.
“With no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, classic public health measures are decisive – early detection, rapid isolation, contact tracing, safe care, infection prevention and control, community trust, and strong coordination,” Kaseya told Xinhua in a recent interview.
The two affected countries have recorded a cumulative 827 confirmed cases and 194 deaths, including 19 cases and two deaths in Uganda, according to the latest Africa CDC data. A total of 53 patients have also recovered from the virus.
Kaseya warned of critical operational constraints, including gaps in contact tracing capacity, financing, logistics, informal cross-border travel, limited laboratory capacity, ambulances, trained response personnel, and infection prevention and control supplies.
“Strengthening contact tracing, active case finding, and community engagement is a priority,” he said, highlighting the growing number of affected districts with the outbreak currently active across 31 health zones in the DRC and one district in Uganda.
He further warned that the outbreak is unfolding in zones plagued by insecurity, which is further compounded by intense population movement and fragile health systems.
“This complicates access, surveillance, contact follow-up, safe transport of samples, and the delivery of essential supplies,” he said.
Kaseya said the Africa CDC is currently working closely with the governments of the DRC and Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other partners to stop transmission, support health workers, strengthen surveillance, reinforce infection prevention and control, and support risk communication and community engagement.
He reiterated that the African Union’s continental public health agency and the WHO continue to advise against unnecessary trade and travel restrictions.
“Health and humanitarian corridors must remain functional while screening, surveillance, and preparedness are strengthened at points of entry,” he said.
Kaseya further called on African governments and global partners to rapidly mobilize flexible financing, diagnostics, and support for frontline workers and to invest in preparedness systems that will outlast the current emergency.
Red Cross workers bury an Ebola victim at the Rwampara Cemetery, in Rwampara, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Seventy-two new confirmed cases, including 29 deaths, were reported on Saturday in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, according to the report published Sunday by the country’s public health authorities.
The two newly affected health zones are Nia-Nia in Ituri and Mabalako in North Kivu, bringing the total number of affected health zones to 31 across three provinces: Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. A health zone is a local public health management unit responsible for surveillance, case reporting and response coordination.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, was officially declared on May 15.
A total of 359 patients were in isolation or hospitalized as of Saturday, while 40 patients had recovered, the report said.
Authorities also reported 136 suspected cases, including 49 deaths, on Saturday. A total of 6,275 contacts were under follow-up in the three affected provinces, but only 3,548 were seen, putting the overall contact follow-up rate at 56.5 percent, well below the 95 percent target.
The report listed several challenges facing the response, including reluctance to undergo post-mortem swabbing, insufficient capacity in Ebola treatment centers, weak contact tracing, shortages of infection prevention and control materials in North Kivu, weak alert reporting and a funding gap of 21.5 million U.S. dollars.
Seventy-two new confirmed cases, including 29 deaths, were reported on Saturday in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu
The case fatality rate stood at 21.0 percent, according to figures released by the ministry. A total of 324 patients were in isolation or hospitalized, while 35 people had recovered.
The ministry said the government, together with provincial authorities, response partners and local communities, was continuing public health interventions aimed at breaking chains of transmission and protecting the population.
Response teams on the ground are carrying out epidemiological surveillance, patient care, contact tracing, targeted vaccination, risk communication and community engagement.
The ministry said no lockdown had been ordered in the affected areas and no such measure was under consideration, urging the public not to spread unverified information and to rely on official channels for updates.
In a disease outbreak update published Saturday, the World Health Organization said the outbreak in the DRC continued to evolve rapidly, with rising case numbers and geographic spread.
The reported case fatality rate was likely an underestimation, as many deaths that occurred before the outbreak was declared remain under investigation, the WHO added.
A health worker disinfects an ambulance at the Mongbwalu treatment center that transported a suspected Ebola patient in Mongbwalu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 5, 2026.
A total of 17 new confirmed cases, including five deaths, were reported on Thursday, all in the eastern province of Ituri, the report said. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, has affected 29 health zones across three eastern provinces, namely Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
A total of 168 suspected cases, including 64 deaths, had been reported as of Thursday.
The report also highlighted several operational challenges, including reluctance to undergo post-mortem swabbing, insufficient capacity in Ebola treatment centers, shortages of infection prevention and control materials in North Kivu, weak alert reporting across the three provinces, and a funding gap of 21.5 million U.S. dollars.
Two Ebola-related deaths have been reported in a camp for internally displaced people in Ituri, according to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The current outbreak, officially declared on May 15 by the DRC’s health ministry, is the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was identified in 1976.
The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 689, including 139 deaths,
In a statement released late on June 11, 2026, Kabila, who led the country from 2001 to 2019, said the country was “heading towards a cliff” and risked instability or fragmentation unless urgent political reforms were undertaken.
The statement came two days after members of the Congolese Parliament approved by majority a proposal to initiate a referendum on constitutional reform, a process widely seen by critics as potentially paving the way for Tshisekedi to extend his stay in power beyond the constitutional two-term limit.
Kabila described the current governance system as marked by “arrogance,” discrimination, and disregard for fundamental freedoms.
“Our country is governed in an arrogant manner, one that suppresses freedoms, is corrosive, and marked by widespread discrimination against many categories of Congolese. What makes it worse is that it is governed in a way that does not respect established laws,” he said.
He argued that the parliamentary vote reflected a broader shift toward entrenching executive power, warning that the constitutional revision process had moved beyond political speculation into active implementation.
Kabila also warned that the Constitution, as the country’s foundational legal framework, should not be altered for political convenience, saying such a move would amount to a betrayal of national principles.
“A major step has already been taken toward entrenching an authoritarian regime and establishing a system of power whose end is unknown, with no guarantee of democratic political change,” he said.
“Our country is increasingly becoming like a boiling pot of water about to explode because it has been deprived of the oxygen of democracy, which is essential for stability and coexistence,” he added.
Kabila further called on Congolese citizens to take responsibility for defending constitutional order, arguing that external actors cannot be relied upon to resolve internal political challenges.
Citing Article 64 of the Constitution, he said citizens have a duty to resist any attempt to violate the country’s supreme law.
“When the government has taken the decision to amend the Constitution, and given the consequences this may have for the country, I must remind everyone that Article 64(1) of our Constitution states that every Congolese citizen has the responsibility to oppose any individual or group using their power to violate the Constitution. This is not just a right; it is a duty,” he said.
Kabila concluded by urging Congolese citizens to “wake up,” unite, and support all actions aimed at resisting the proposed constitutional changes.
In a statement released late on June 11, 2026, Kabila, who led the country from 2001 to 2019, said the country was “heading towards a cliff” and risked instability or fragmentation unless urgent political reforms were undertaken.Kabila described the current governance system, led by President Félix Tshisekedi, as marked by “arrogance,” discrimination, and disregard for fundamental freedoms.
