Three new ebola cases in Equateur of DRC

Three new cases of Ebola virus disease were confirmed on Thursday, July 30, by the technical secretariat for the fight against this disease in the country. The three cases come from three different health zones namely: Bolomba (Boso Nzala), Ingende (Wangata) and Lotumbe (Bossa). No new cases of death among the confirmed cases have been recorded.
In the health zone of Bolomba, a person, declared cured, left the Ebola treatment center (CTE).
The response team also notes that a patient was reclassified from cured death to having had two negative laboratory results after his death. He was confirmed to have EVD on July 6 and taken care of at the Wangata CTE. He had died before his release from CTE on July 24.
Since the start of this 11th Ebola epidemic declared on June 1 in the province of Equateur, the cumulative amount has been 72 cases, including 68 confirmed and 4 probable. In total, there were 31 deaths (27 confirmed and 4 probable) and 26 healed (people cured).
The 7 affected health zones are Bikoro, Bolomba, Iboko, Mbandaka, Lutumbe, Wangata and ingende

The IRGC has released detailed images of Al-Udeid Air Base – the Qatar-based home of the US military’s Central Command, with the snaps taken by Iran’s new domestically-developed ‘Noor’ (Light) military satellite.

The images were reportedly obtained amid the ongoing massive war games in southern Iran involving multiple branches of the armed forces, including elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) formations.
The IRGC has released detailed images of Al-Udeid Air Base – the Qatar-based home of the US military’s Central Command, with the snaps taken by Iran’s new domestically-developed ‘Noor’ (Light) military satellite.
First we see what looks like a satellite tracking station, then a graphic of "IRAN_SAT" sending signals to Tehran. Next, imagery of Al-Udeid Airbase, which seem to be taken at different times. You can see changes in positions of KC-135s. "Changes in targets" written underneath the photoshoots.Here is the tweet
The images include several detailed snaps of the airbase itself, with the pictures apparently taken during various intervals, based on the changing positions of aircraft on runways. One of the images appears to be an infrared view showing heat signatures emitted by aircraft and the nearby facilities.
Al-Udeid is the US’s largest military base in the Middle East, with as many as 11,000 personnel permanently stationed at the facility at any one time, and the base used to direct US military operations across the region.
The images are featured in a video showing off Iran’s drone, air power and missile might, with drones, planes and missiles shown to be targeting a range of objects, including a mock-up aircraft carrier.
The images were released amid the ongoing ‘Great Prophet 14’ military drills in Hormozgan province, southern Iran, with the territory bordering on the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The massive drills kicked off on Tuesday. In addition to its intelligence-gathering activities, the Noor satellite has reportedly been used to monitor the exercises from space.
The Noor satellite was launched into orbit in April . US Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond derided the launch at the time, calling the satellite a “tumbling webcam in space” and suggesting it would be “unlikely” to provide Iran with any usable intelligence.
US troops at the Al-Udeid Air Base and the nearby Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, UAE were reportedly temporarily put on alert this week after missile fire was detected in the area where the drills are taking place. “The incident lasted for a matter of minutes and an all clear was declared after the threat…had passed,” US Army Maj. Beth Riordan was quoted as saying.
The US Navy slammed Iran’s ‘Great Prophet 14’ drills on Wednesday, taking special issue with the use of a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier. “We are always watchful of this type of irresponsible and reckless behaviour by Iran in the vicinity of busy international waterways,” a spokesperson for the US Fifth Fleet was
quoted as saying.
In addition to the satellite, Iran showed off the capabilities of its underground missile units during the drills. Drone units, aircraft, and a variety of sea-to-sea and coastal defence missiles were fired during the wargames. On Wednesday, IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brig. Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh revealed that the drills also
included defeating a simulated US Theater High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD)-style system by targeting it with radar-evading missiles. “With the facilities in our possession, we can hit any hostile target at any location in the Persian Gulf region, the Sea of Oman, and the Indian Ocean,” Hajizadeh said.
The drills come in the wake of the latest escalation in tensions in the already strained Iranian-US relationship last week, after an Iranian passenger airliner was forced to take evasive maneuvers following an interception by two US fighter jets over Syrian airspace. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the incident an act of “aerial terrorism” by the US, and urged the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the United Nations Security Council, Syria and Lebanon to take appropriate action to hold Washington accountable for its alleged violation of international law.

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.