MSF warns of renewed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province
The medical humanitarian organisation called on all state and non-state armed groups in Ituri to spare civilians as well as healthcare facilities, which are sanctuaries essential to the survival of local communities.
A new report on the situation in Ituri Province in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) now shows a spike in renewed attacks in the area.
The report dubbed "Risking Their Lives to Survive" released by the Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Tuesday, noted that the recent attacks have led to increased displacement and increased medical aid as medical teams are providing care for civilians with horrific injuries even as the region continues to record reduced humanitarian aid all of which have left communities endangered.
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The medical humanitarian organisation called on all state and non-state armed groups in Ituri to spare civilians as well as healthcare facilities, which are sanctuaries essential to the survival of local communities.
MSF head of mission in DRC, Alira Halidou, said these most recent attacks follow decades of violence and its devastating consequences for civilians, including women and children in Ituri.
"The crisis here is characterized by repeated displacement, in which violence forces civilians to pick up and start their lives over, again and again. What is worse, is that the stories patients and communities tell us represent only the tip of the iceberg."
UN data shows that violence in Ituri has displaced around 100,000 people since the beginning of the year, with January and February alone indicating an intensification of violence against civilians, with attacks leaving more than 200 people dead and dozens injured.
In February, MSF's medical teams treated children as young as four and pregnant women for machete and gunshot wounds following militia attacks in Djugu territory.
Not only do these attacks make patients reluctant to go to medical facilities, but they also put medical staff at risk.
A doctor who was interviewed for the report recounted how, when a health centre was forced to shut down for two months, he still went in to perform caesarean sections.
"It was dangerous and I was risking my life, but we didn't have a choice. We had to sneak there with the women, otherwise they would have died," said the doctor.
Huge losses
The province located in the North East of DRC, has suffered huge losses as a result of the lingering war that is characterised by violence, ethnic divisions, and the participation of various armed groups.
"This conflict has also greatly hampered access to healthcare and the means for families to feed themselves, while the restricted provision of humanitarian aid has caused further suffering among a population that already gets little international attention," the report shows.
This is because only a small proportion of people can access healthcare in Ituri, where health facilities also fall prey to attacks.
The report adds that when there is an upsurge in attacks against civilians, the number of victims of sexual violence coming to MSF facilities also increases.
"Women in particular face attack as they go out in search of means to feed themselves and their families. In Drodro, in 2023 and 2024, around 84 per cent of the victims of sexual violence treated by MSF were attacked while working in fields, collecting firewood or on the road," the report notes.
In Djugu territory, the Fataki General Hospital was forced to suspend its activities and evacuate patients in mid-March following armed group threats leaving thousands without access to medical care.
In the Drodro health zone, also in Djugu, nearly 50 per cent of healthcare centres have been partially or fully destroyed and have had to be relocated. When violence escalated this time last year, a patient was killed in her bed in an armed attack on Drodro's general hospital.
Among the vulnerable populations that the Doctors Without Borders has been targeting include women and children who were more than half of the 39 victims of violence treated at Salama clinic, Bunia, up until mid-March 2025.
One mother, whose four-year-old was injured, lost her six-month-old baby and her husband during an attack wielded by a machete.
Two sisters aged four and 16 took machete blows to the head and arms, and their mother (eight months pregnant) was also severely injured by multiple machete wounds.
"We treated a nine-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the abdomen who had witnessed assailants attack and kill his mother and two siblings by machete," the report adds.
In instances where civilians seek refuge in displacement camps, MSF reiterated that they are still not safe.
"In one instance in September 2024, MSF treated five civilians with bullet wounds following an attack on Plaine Savo camp, in Fataki health zone," shows the report.
The report further shows that food insecurity worsened sharply in Ituri in 2024 and is now chronic for 43 per cent of the population.
Poor hygiene conditions and dilapidated shelters in displacement camps mean that diarrheal and respiratory diseases spread easily, affecting children under five the most.
"People in Ituri must be guaranteed safe access to healthcare and must not be forced to risk their lives in search of food and other needs," MSF appeals.
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