Islamist Militant Attack Forces Patients to Flee Ebola Clinic in Congo

Africa

Islamist Militant Attack Forces Patients to Flee Ebola Clinic in Congo

At least 48 people were killed in a brutal assault by a group loyal to the Islamic State, officials said. The area is a hot spot of the growing Ebola outbreak.

*Congolese civilians checking destroyed buildings after an attack by Islamic State-linked militants in Cantine-Aloya, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Friday.Credit...Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters*

By Declan Walsh

Reporting from Nia-Nia, Democratic Republic of Congo

Nov. 7, 2026

Militants affiliated with the Islamic State burned down a health center treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo this week, forcing infected patients to flee amid violence that killed dozens of people, according to health and United Nations officials.

At least 48 people were killed in the attacks, officials said. It started late Thursday with a series of attacks in and around Cantine-Aloya, a village about 28 miles west of Beni, a city in eastern Congo. Several dozen homes and shops were burned, forcing residents to flee the area. Two other health facilities were also set on fire.

The violence is a major blow to efforts to contain the country’s Ebola outbreak. Since the first case was detected in May, it has already become the second-largest outbreak on record, spreading across a vast area spanning eight provinces in eastern Congo.

Infections have fallen in some areas but are soaring in places threatened by armed groups that the response effort has not reached. After three decades of conflict, over 100 armed groups are present in eastern Congo. Some of the areas they control or threaten have become Ebola hot spots, hampering urgent efforts to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak.

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*Militants affiliated with the Islamic State killed at least 44 people and burned many buildings in Cantine-Aloya.Credit...Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters*

The danger is particularly acute from the Allied Democratic Forces, the group that carried out the attack this week in Cantine-Aloya. Recognized by the Islamic State as an affiliate in 2019, the A.D.F. has a reputation for especially brutal attacks that often include beheadings, rape and the abduction of children.

Declan Walsh is the chief Africa correspondent for The Times based in Nairobi, Kenya. He previously reported from Cairo, covering the Middle East, and Islamabad, Pakistan.

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 8, 2026, Section A, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Ebola Patients Flee Clinic Amid Violence in Congo. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe