An armed group stormed an Ebola treatment centre in eastern DR Congo last night, seizing a child patient and sparking a frantic manhunt. The raid, which sources confirm involved at least four assailants armed with machetes and rifles, has drawn sharp condemnation from the British embassy in Kinshasa.
The child, aged about nine, was under isolation at a Médecins Sans Frontières facility near Butembo. Witnesses report that the attackers overpowered security guards before grabbing the youngster and fleeing into the bush. The motive remains unclear, though local officials suspect rebel militia involvement.
‘This is an appalling attack on medical neutrality,’ a British embassy spokesperson said this morning. ‘We call on all parties to respect the sanctity of healthcare workers and patients, and to ensure the safe return of the child.’
The Congo has been battling a deadly Ebola outbreak since August 2018. More than 2,000 people have died. The region is also plagued by armed groups who see outsiders, including medical teams, as threats.
A nurse who asked not to be named told me the attackers shouted accusations that the centre was ‘killing children’ and ‘stealing organs’. Such rumours have circulated in the area before, fuelled by mistrust of international organisations.
Officials have launched a search operation involving MONUSCO peacekeepers and Congolese police. But the dense forest around Butembo makes progress slow. ‘We are treating this as a worst-case scenario,’ a senior UN source said. ‘If the child is not found soon, he could die without medical support.’
The British embassy has pledged to assist local authorities. But questions remain about how an armed group could breach a guarded medical facility so easily. Documents obtained by this desk reveal a history of security lapses at Ebola centres in the region, with at least three similar incidents in the past six months.
One incident report, filed in March, warned of ‘systemic failures’ in perimeter security. It recommended better fencing and round-the-clock armed guards. Those recommendations appear to have been ignored.
This is not the first time medical workers have been targeted. In April, two polio vaccinators were killed in Pakistan. In the same month, a doctor treating Ebola patients in Guinea was attacked by a mob. The pattern is clear: healthcare has become a battlefield.
As for the child, his fate is unknown. His name has not been released. He was admitted three days ago with Ebola symptoms and had been responding to treatment. Now, his life hangs in the balance, caught in a conflict he never chose.
I will keep you updated as this story develops. But for now, the hunt continues in the dark Congo forests, where armed men walk free and children die preventable deaths.
