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Hidden war that claims 1,000 lives a day
For background, see hereThe Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday accused Rwanda of invading its eastern jungles and pledged to deploy 10,000 troops in response, as the scale of human suffering in the Africa's third largest country was laid bare. A new report found that 1,000 people are dying in Congo every day in the wake of its last war, which ended - on paper at least - with a treaty two years ago and is considered the world's worst conflict since 1945. The turmoil threatened to deepen still further yesterday. If there has been a large-scale incursion by Rwanda, the danger of a new regional war engulfing central African would be acute. An estimated 3.8 million people from a population of 60 million have been killed in six years of fighting, meaning that the conflict dwarfs every other humanitarian emergency, including that in Sudan's Darfur region. The fighting in this anarchic swathe of Africa has, according to the International Rescue Committee, a New York-based aid agency, created hunger and disease on an unprecedented scale. The mortality survey by the IRC also shows that 500,000 died between January 2003 and April this year. Richard Brennan, one of the report's authors, said: "How many innocent Congolese have to perish before the world pays attention?" The overwhelming majority of deaths were caused by starvation or disease. The war has wrecked schools and hospitals, leaving millions without the most basic health care. Children have borne the brunt of the suffering. The IRC survey found that Congo's mortality rate for children under the age of five was 70 per cent higher than the African average. The report said that Congo was suffering "by far the deadliest war in the world since World War Two", adding: "International engagement is typically lacking in Congo and hundreds of thousands of innocent people are dying as a result." Posted by: tipper 2004-12-11 |
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