Militants kill 33 in DRC raid, force Ebola patients to flee

The attackers set fire to a health ​post during their assault on Cantine-Aloya in North Kivu ​province, a hotspot of the Ebola outbreak coursing through ⁠Congo, officials said.

Patients from a nearby hospital also fled, including ​one confirmed Ebola patient and five suspected cases, among them ​three high-risk contacts, the head doctor there, Christian Kakule Vulembera, told Reuters.

The militants from the Allied Democratic Forces, a group recognised by Islamic ​State as an affiliate, set fire to several houses ​and killed civilians, Beni territorial administrator Colonel Charles Omeonga told Reuters.

He said ‌a ⁠death toll could not yet be established because heavy rain hampered army operations and investigations.

A total of 33 bodies were recovered after the attack, most bearing gunshot wounds, while others ​had been burned ​or hacked ⁠with machetes, according to Tchetche Aliamini, a local civil society leader.

The attackers struck the village ​about 50 km west of Beni around 11 ​p.m. ⁠local time on Thursday, officials said.

North Kivu currently accounts for half of all new infections in Congo's outbreak. Authorities have recorded ⁠more ​than 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths across ​the country.