DRC: North Kivu Fighting Damages Health Structures and Displaces Thousands | Doctors Without Borders

DRC 2009 © Michael Goldfarb / An MSF clinic in Kitchanga, 
North Kivu.

GOMA, DRC/NEW YORK, MARCH 1, 2013—Amid fighting in the town of Kitchanga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has caused widespread casualties and damage to health facilities, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is mobilizing medical resources to the affected area, the organization said today.

More than 55 civilians have reportedly been killed in the fighting, and 135 people wounded. Shelling also struck St. Benoit Hospital in Kitchanga today, killing two people and wounding eight. Many homes and other buildings have been burned, including the MSF compound. Thousands of civilians have fled.

“We call upon all parties to the conflict to respect the neutrality of health structures," said Hugues Robert, MSF’s head of mission for North Kivu province. “MSF is very concerned about the plight of civilians during intense periods of fighting like this. All parties to the conflict should not harm the population.”.......

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DRC: North Kivu Fighting Damages Health Structures and Displaces Thousands | Doctors Without Borders