USA and Israel sign a document on air defence cooperation

The Israeli Defence Ministry hosted on Thursday the annual US-Israeli Defence Policy Advisory Group (DPAG). The DPAG session discussed strategic and regional security challenges following the recent escalation between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement on the border, with explosions and exchanges of gunfire.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the US military have signed a document that provides for the partnership between the states in the air defence field, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
The US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) and Israel’s Iron Dome are both anti-ballistic missile defence systems, which are designed to intercept and shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range aircraft devices.
The IDF also praised the longstanding cooperation between Israel and the United States.
IAF officers, led by Air Defence Division commander, Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav, held a video conference with members of the US European Command, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing the IDF statement.
The US has provided Israel with extensive support in political, economic and military directions. The two states also coordinate joint military exercises and weapons development, as well as some other scientific and cultural exchanges.
With the backing of the United States, the expanding of sovereignty over the West Bank and the Jordan Valley was among the top declarations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign.

The city of Bunia to put under total lockdown for Up to 4 days as Covid19 cases start worrying Ituri

The provincial minister of health in Ituri is considering the confinement of the city of Bunia, the epicenter of the Coronavirus pandemic in the province of Ituri, soon.
With 58 confirmed positive cases including 2 deaths and more than 500 contact cases listed, the capital of the province is the most affected by the disease, followed by the territories of Mahagi and Aru.
“In the town of Bunia there are 18 direct contact cases called suspected cases and this shows that the situation is not good. There is a risk of confining the city for 3 or 4 days to allow the health teams to contain the disease ”said Doctor Patrick Karamura.
These 18 people suspected of contamination are fleeing response teams and constitute a real public threat, said the minister.
“These people come out in the morning and return home at night to flee the response team. They had to be available to answer our questions so that we could monitor them, ”explains Patrick Karamura.
He calls on the population of Bunia to prepare accordingly because confinement will intervene shortly.
"The people who say they live at the daily rate (day to day), they are now learning to save a little money," he concluded.

Noble Peace prize winner,Denis mukwege under threat for calling for international investigation in the kipupu killings

On july 26, Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege wrote: “These are the same people who keep killing us. Kipupu's macabre accounts are in line with the massacres that have hit the DRC since 1996. "
This tweet came 10 days after the militia attacked civilians in the locality of Kipupu (Mwenga territory) in South Kivu. Dr Mukwege claims to have “received various hate mail and members of my family were intimidated and threatened. ”Following this denunciation.
"No intellectual malfeasance, no threat, no use of fear, will prevent me from expressing myself on the reality of the atrocities that the populations of my country are experiencing and whose aftermath I treat every day in my hospital in Bukavu. ", He wrote this Friday in a statement entitled" Call for peace. "
After more than two weeks of silence, the authorities in South Kivu, with the support of Monusco, succeeded in dispatching a mission to Kipupu on Thursday to take stock of the situation and give the final assessment of the bloody attack which is chronic. A total of 15 people have been killed and more than 200 missing to date.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner supported the need to unearth the mapping report drawn up by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report reviews the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between March 1993 and June 2003. This document then drew up an inventory of 617 war crimes and crimes of humanity. If these crimes are brought before a competent court, some of the atrocities documented in the Mapping report could constitute the crime of genocide.
“It seems that advocating the creation of a special jurisdiction to try crimes in Congo scares some people who pour their hatred on social media by pitting one against the other, often on the basis of lies. Reconciliation between peoples and the establishment of reparations for the victims cannot be achieved without our relentless search for the truth. ", He launched in his message.
On Thursday, Mukwege received a delegation from the Banyamulenge community as part of the search for solutions to the conflicts and multiple tensions are still high in the high and middle plateaus of Uvira, Minembwe and Itombwe where armed groups have community support.You can read more on this  and More here

Tension in sange as DRC youth protest against the killing of 12 civilians by a drunk FARDC soldier

A soldier of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in a state of intoxication opened fire on the population on the evening of Thursday July 31, 2020 in Sange, in the Ruzizi plain in the territory of Uvira (South- Kivu) and killed 12 people and injured 9.The injured were taken to hospital for proper treatment.
To the same source to indicate that a soldier, after his crime, fled and remains hidden in nature until then.
This Friday, July 31, the population took to the streets to deplore this unacceptable act. Traffic is cut off on national road number 5 by angry demonstrators.12 civilians were killed thursday, July 30, 2020 around 20 am by a FARDC military drunk in Sange, Uvira territory in South Kivu, another 9 people have Gunshot wounded by the same assassin told the city leader of Sange Malula Rukalisha who confirms this information. Among those who died in this incident, 5 men, 6 women and one female child.
Bernard Kadogo, President of the civil society of Sange for his part informed that three neighborhoods of Sange are affected, such as Rutanga where there are 12 dead, Kajembo 3 injured including a woman and Kinanira, on Inga Avenue, six injured including 2 women and 4 men.
Angry middle youth protested by spreading all bodies on National Road number 5 in the center of Sange.

MONUSCO indicates that two high-ranking members of the NDC-Rénové armed group surrendered on Tuesday July 28 to the Indian peacekeepers of the UN Mission.

According to Monusco, this brings the total of Nduma Denfense of Congo-Rénové (NDC-R) rebels who surrendered to 31.
“In Pinga (Nord Kivu, DRC), on July 28, 2020, two high-level members of the NDC_R armed group surrendered to the Indian peacekeepers of MONUSCO, bringing the total number of surrenders to 31. This confirms a positive development in favor of peace in this region ”.You can read more here
A week ago, around thirty lifeless bodies were found in the city of Pinga and its surroundings, in the territory of Walikale (North Kivu), after the clashes between two wings of Nduma Defense of Congo-Rénové (NDC-R).
These two factions were vying for control of Pinga. On July 20, the warlord Guidon Shimiray and his men announced their withdrawal from the city of Pinga (Walikale) which they had conquered shortly before from fighting against militiamen loyal to Gilbert Bwira, who was until then, N ° 2 of the Nduma Defense of Congo-Rénové (NDC-R).
Following this situation, several residents fled their homes and took refuge in secure areas including Mpety, Kalembe, Kichanga, Misau, Kibuwa, Walikale-center, Nyabyondo.

North kivu has become the third province with the highet number of Covid19 cases in DRC

On WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, first confirmed case in Kasai-Central province, 79 new confirmed cases (45 in Kongo-Central, 12 in Haut-Katanga, 12 in Kinshasa, 7 in North Kivu, 2 in Ituri and 1 in Kasai-Central) out of 637 samples tested, 342 new people healed (302 in Kinshasa and 40 in other provinces), 2 deaths, 215 suspect cases detected.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, the cumulation of cases has been 9.010, including 9.009 confirmed cases and 1 probable cases:
• Kinshasa: 7.537 cases
• Kongo-Central: 404 cases
• North Kivu: 291 cases
• Haut-Katanga: 288 cases
• South Kivu: 288 cases
• Lualaba: 75 cases
• Ituri: 59 cases
• High Ulé: 24 cases
• Tshopo: 24 cases
• Ecuador: 5 cases
• Kwilu: 5 cases
• South Ubangi: 5 cases
• Haut-Lomami: 1 cases
• Kasai: 1 cases
• Kasai-Central: 1 cases
• Kwango: 1 cases
In total, there were 6.437 people healed and 215 deaths (214 confirmed cases and 1 probable cases).
Bulletin of the Technical Secretariat of the response against Covid-19 in DRC

The governor of North Kivu, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita, that of South Kivu Théo Ngwabije Kasi and Jean Bamanisa Saidi of ituri are invited to Kinshasa to "start discussions with MONUSCO and the sectoral ministries for the community DDR issue" ( Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration).

 The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Security, and Customary Affairs, Gilbert Kankonde reminds Kinshasa of three governors from the eastern part of the DRC. The governor of North Kivu, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita, that of South Kivu Théo Ngwabije Kasi and Jean Bamanisa Saidi of ituri are invited to Kinshasa to "start discussions with MONUSCO and the sectoral ministries for the community DDR issue" ( Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration). It should be noted that all three provinces are shaken by the activism of armed groups. In North Kivu, the ADF continue to increase attacks against civilians in the Beni region, meanwhile the presence of the M23 has been reported in the territory of Rutshuru for a few weeks and Pinga still under threats from the NDC-Renounced. In Ituri, it is the CODECO rebels who never cease to worry while in South Kivu is also not spared this activist of the armed groups. According to civil society in South Kivu, more than 200 people were massacred on the night of Thursday July 16 to Friday July 17 in the village of Kipupu, located in the territory of Mwenga in South Kivu. An attack that has been attributed to the Gumino and Twiraheno People's Self-Defense Forces. This militia even claimed responsibility for the massacre. Since 2016, cases of insecurity have been recorded in the Fizi, Itombwe and Uvira plateaus, armed groups claiming to be communities are fighting day and night

ADF ambushed FARDC soldiers based in manyangose

Allied Democatic Forces (ADF) rebels on Tuesday July 28, 2020 ambushed the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) based in Mayangose, in the far north of the city of Beni (North Kivu). According to information as of  late Wednesday evening by operations spokesman Sukola 1, this attack occurred when elements of the 3406 regiment were maintaining the Lahe-Mailingi road and which was already showing impracticability. "These FARDC elements were surprised by this attack" indicates Lieutenant Antony Mwalushay who further specifies that "if it had not been for the intervention of the General Staff based in Mayangose ​​the toll would be enormous". However, he calls on the population to calm down and not to panic because the army has taken control of these strategic areas. It should be remembered that clashes have been reported in this part between the army and the ADF rebels since Tuesday. Our reports confirm that the army has control of this area.
In a related issue of intensified ADF attacks;Two people, a soldier and a motorcycle taxi were killed in an ambush by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters on Wednesday, July 29 in Ulebo, a village near the town of Halungupa, in the territory of Beni (North Kivu). The ambush targeted three people who were on a motorcycle, and came from Manzalao (north of Halungupa) bound for Tsotsora, another surrounding village, explains Kalwana Kambala, president of civil society from Ntoma, another locality recently attacked. The driver of the motorcycle and a passenger soldier were killed. Another soldier fled as the local Catholic church approached, the same source said. This is the second ambush against the military in the Beni region in the interval of 48 hours. On Tuesday, seven soldiers perished in an ADF rebel ambush near Kididiwe, northeast of the town of Beni.

51 confirmed covid19 cases in bunia

The provincial minister of health in Ituri indicated on Tuesday July 28, 2020 that the province recorded 51 confirmed positive cases of Coronavirus while in the weekend this figure was still 45. “In Ituri there are already 51 cases and 5 healed. We have also listed more than 500 contact cases in Bunia, 4 in Mahagi and 4 in Aru ”explains Doctor Patrick Karamura  further said;Still in the capital of this province, 2 patients died of the pandemic. same source which alerts the population to strictly observe the barrier measures.

The Kipupu killings seem to be a more complex issue with neighbouring elements implicated in the massacre.

The situation is more complex than it looks. Provincial authorities, civil society and experts are cautious about the motives for recent violence in the region. There are very localized conflicts and there are more regional dynamics. The management of power, the division of land, the movement of cattle, the manipulation of local dignitaries and several other reasons have exacerbated the violence. Among the groups that have manifested themselves in recent months in this mineral-rich area are the Ngumino. Present in the highlands of the territories of Fizi and Uvira, they are also active in the territory of Mwenga where Kipupu is located. Some of their fighters come from other former Banyamulenge armed groups. There are also the Twiraneho, more present in Bijombo, they also recruit from the Banyamulenge community. Much less structured, they relate to the Ngumino. According to the provincial government of South Kivu, the July 16 attack was carried out by the Ngumino and the Twiraneho. In this area, there are also movements which define themselves as self-defense groups known under the generic name of Mai-Mai. Each community like the bafuliro, the rega or even the Babembe, where there was the attack, has its group. Among the actors, there are also groups of foreign origin with Rwandan and Burundian rebels who are also active. A particular picture that makes the pacification process difficult.