Photo Essay: Cholera in a Time of War

With its bounty of natural resources, it could have been one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Instead, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plundered and wracked with fighting. And if one rebel leader has his way, the government will be overthrown in this latest outbreak of violence.

Aiming to kill: About 5.4 million peopleroughly the population of Denmark or the U.S. state of Coloradohave died in the past decade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a consequence of the countrys 1998-2003 war and its aftermath, making it the deadliest conflict since World War II. Most recently, fighting reignited in August between the Army and the CNDP rebel group following a lull after a January peace agreement. Here, an Army soldier strikes an intimidating pose on Nov. 9 at the front line just outside the eastern town of Goma.

Photo: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009 to 2016 and was an FP assistant editor from 2007 to 2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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