Latest Democratic Republic of the Congo government News

Congo landslide kills at least 15 people and up to 60 others are missing, officials say

Apr. 14, 2024 17:10 PM EDT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A landslide in southwest Congo caused by heavy rains killed at least 15 people and left as many as 60 others missing, local officials said Sunday. Seven people were found alive after the landslide Saturday near the port near the town of Idiofa. ...

3 Tanzanian soldiers were killed as violence persists in eastern Congo

Apr. 09, 2024 07:57 AM EDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Three Tanzanian soldiers were killed and three others injured after a mortar shell landed near their camp in eastern Congo, where the Tanzanians are deployed under the banner of a regional bloc to help quell violence. It remained unclear who was responsible...

Congo appoints its first female prime minister as violence surges in the east

Apr. 02, 2024 04:07 AM EDT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Monday appointed the country's first female prime minister, fulfilling a campaign promise and taking an important step toward the formation of a new government after his reelection late last year. Former planning...

Security in Congo's mineral-rich east is deteriorating with rebel group expanding territory, UN says

Mar. 27, 2024 20:50 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Security in Congo’s mineral-rich east has deteriorated since recent elections, with a rebel group allegedly linked to neighboring Rwanda making “significant advances and expanding its territory,” the U.N. special envoy for the conflict-wracked African nation said...

Congo reinstates the death penalty after more than 20 years as it struggles to deal with militants

Mar. 15, 2024 11:18 AM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo has lifted a more than two-decade-old moratorium on the death penalty as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks in the country, according to a justice ministry statement released on Friday. The statement, dated earlier this week,...

Congo faces unprecedented crisis as violence displaces 250,000 in the last month, a UN official says

Mar. 13, 2024 15:53 PM EDT

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Escalating violence in Congo's eastern region has displaced at least 250,000 people in the last month, a senior United Nations official said Wednesday, describing the situation as an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Far from the nation’s capital, Kinshasa,...

Takeaways from AP visit to Congo as nation offers expanded oil drilling

Feb. 29, 2024 23:38 PM EST

MOANDA, Congo (AP) — The central African nation of Congo is offering 30 oil and gas blocks around the country for auction. It's a prospect that concerns environmentalists and some of the people who live near the drilling that has so far been limited to a small area near its far western border on...

As Congo seeks to expand drilling, some communities worry pollution will worsen

Feb. 29, 2024 23:37 PM EST

MOANDA, Congo (AP) — The oil drills that loom down the road from Adore Ngaka's home remind him daily of everything he's lost. The extraction in his village in western Congo has polluted the soil, withered his crops and forced the family to burn through savings to survive, he said. ...

Burundi detains dozens of soldiers who refused deployment in fight against M23 rebels in Congo

Feb. 28, 2024 07:56 AM EST

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Dozens of Burundian troops have been detained for refusing to be deployed to eastern Congo in the fight against the M23 rebel group as it advances toward a major border city, according to army officers, prison officials and other witnesses. The dissenting...

The United States tells Rwanda and Congo they must 'walk back from the brink of war'

Feb. 20, 2024 22:34 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States told Rwanda and Congo on Tuesday that they “must walk back from the brink of war,” the sharpest warning yet of a looming conflict between the African neighbors. U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood delivered the warning at an emergency...