From Virunga

Militia attack Lulimbi and Muramba

August 4th, 2012 by Emmanuel

4Aug2012Filed under (Threats) by Emmanuel @ 11:36 am

In the early hours of the morning we suffered 2 attacks in one night.  Lulimbi was attacked by a heavily armed FDLR unit at about 2 in the morning.  We were expecting them and the rangers were on full alert.  There was very heavy fighting for about one hour, after which the militias retreated.  Unfortunately, two of our rangers received gunshot wounds during the attack, one in the leg (not too serious) and one was shot through the arm.  He lost a lot of blood, but we provided the necessary emergency treatment and airlifted him to hospital.  His situation is now stable, and we’re focussing on further strengthening Lulimbi, as the area around, including the towns of Ishasha and the fishing settlement at Nyakakoma, are under FDLR control.

Cleaning the wounds.

An IV drip is critical in this situation, even when we can fly the injured out.  Para-medic training remains one of our biggest priorities

Muramba, on the north-western shore of Lake Edward, was attacked by Mai Mai militias just before dawn.  We only had eleven rangers on the position, but again, they were positioned in their trenches and were able to push them back.  Seven of the rangers were able to mount a pursuit and pushed them back up the escarpment out of the park.

Testing the equipment and setting up defensive positions at Ishango

We’re working on strengthening Muramba and Ishango, which are both heavily threatened by militias.  As hard as it is on our staff at the moment, morale remains incredibly high.

I prefer adding my comments to others blogs when I reproduce them but what can I say  a group of wildlife rangers are the most effective military outfit in the Congo and the aren't military. Go figure.