According to the insurgents’ spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, from Tuesday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. until Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. (local time), airstrikes intensified against the densely populated areas of Kalingi, Bidegu, and Gakenke, using KT-6 drones and kamikaze drones.

On his social media account, he described the events as “a campaign of terror of unprecedented violence” and added that on Wednesday they also launched lethal attacks against the densely populated areas of Katoyi and its surroundings.

In this latest operation, he noted, the allied forces of the DRC government used combat drones and heavy artillery “in an indiscriminate offensive directed against the civilian population,” he stated.

“These barbaric and indiscriminate bombings carried out by the Kinshasa regime result in the deaths of numerous innocent civilians, the massive destruction of homes and infrastructure, as well as the large-scale forced displacement of populations,” he added.

These military actions are taking place in an extremely complex context, as the east of the country is on alert due to the presence of the Ebola virus in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, which border South Kivu.

Under these circumstances, the movement of people in the region is very dangerous, and the violence further complicates the health response.

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