rumble in the jungle....

Could this be the source of some of the recent selling?

If only this country could settle down and the locals get some peace........

Source: The Guardian:

"A violent rebellion has destroyed an estimated 600 homes in the past three months and displaced 400,000 people in Katanga, the country's wealthiest province.

Martin Kobler, head of the UN mission in the DRC, known as Monusco, admitted that Katanga had been ignored in recent months as troops stepped up their campaign against M23 rebels in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.

"It's a humanitarian catastrophe," he told journalists. "I feel an element of guilt when I think of Katanga because we have concentrated our military activity on the Kivus but it is important not to neglect Katanga."

Congo has often appeared in danger of fragmentation since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960, and Katanga, roughly the size of Spain, has been plagued by secessionist violence. It is believed to hold about a third of the world's cobalt and a 10th of its copper reserves.

Its capital, Lubumbashi, is the second biggest city in DRC. Rebel groups pushing for Katanga's independence, known as Mai Mai Bakata Katanga, carried out audacious attacks in Lubumbashi in March and November last year, killing dozens of people. The city witnessed further clashes last month following an apparent attempted coup in the national capital, Kinshasa.

The Mai Mai have also caused unrest in the north of the province in an area known as the triangle of death, where fighting in 2005 resulted in many people being killed, raped, injured or displaced. Monusco said: "Most affected is the area between Manono, Mitwaba and Pweto, where more than 600 houses in 11 villages have been destroyed since October last year."

The estimated 400,000 internally displaced people in Katanga marks a "dramatic increase" over two years, it added. Kobler said: "All armed groups must stop their activities and allow humanitarian access to the main victims of this tragedy, the civilian populations."

This month Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that fighting between the Mai Mai and government forces had left villages burned to the ground and hundreds of people fleeing to neighbouring villages or into the bush.

Thomas Mollet, MSF head of mission in Katanga, said: "We're concerned that significant numbers of vulnerable people are not able to access the medical care and humanitarian assistance they need. The security situation is tense and organisations can't move around freely. As civilians risk being caught up in the fighting and mistaken for combatants, we fear that they are not going out to seek care."

MSF said it there had been falling patient numbers at Shamwana hospital compared with previous years, suggesting that people are forgoing medical care. Last month, 18 patients receiving long-term care for HIV and tuberculosis did not return to the hospital for further essential treatment.

"If people aren't able to access healthcare, it will surely cost lives," Mollet added. "Complications during labour can be fatal for pregnant women and severe malaria is deadly for children if left untreated. Armed groups in Katanga province, including the national army, must respect and ensure the safety of civilians and allow them to access the medical services that they need."