U.N. reports 120 unexplained deaths in northeast Congo

GENEVA (Reuters) - Authorities in northeastern Congo have reported the unexplained deaths of more than 120 internally displaced people, 93 of them under 15 years old, in an area bordering Uganda in March and April, a U.N. humanitarian report said on Friday.

The deceased often showed symptoms of anemia and fever. They were displaced at Kandoyi in Ituri province, a town that has taken in more than 4,000 people uprooted northwards by fighting since mid-February, the report said.

“At this time, there has still been no official epidemiological investigation by the Biringi health district,” the report said, referring to a local town.

This year, Ituri became the latest part of the Democratic Republic of Congo to descend into bloodshed since President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step aside at the end of his mandate in 2016 caused political upheaval and violence.

Congo is also suffering from widespread malnutrition and this week an Ebola outbreak has been reported in another part of the country, around the town of Bikoro in the northwest.