ICRC assist Kalemie bombing casualties

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICR) on Thursday confirmed that the town of Kalemie in northeastern Katanga Province came under severe aerial bombardment on 1 and 4 December. RCD-Goma spokesman Kin-Kiey Mulumba had earlier in the week told IRIN that government forces bombarded the town, but the bombing had not been independently confirmed. The ICRC said “there were heavy civilian casualties”: one person killed and 20 wounded in the first raid, and two killed and 12 wounded in the second. A statement from the international NGO said that ICRC employees, working with national Red Cross volunteers, had helped to evacuate the wounded to the local hospital. It had then provided emergency supplies to treat 20 war-wounded, and later - on Thursday morning - managed to land a flight in Kalemie with medical supplies for the treatment of 40 more casualties, the ICRC stated.