BUKAVU, DR Congo (AFP) — A first Ebola case has been confirmed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, in an area under the Rwanda-backed M23 militia’s control, the armed group’s spokesman said Thursday.

Efforts to get a grip on the latest outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic disease, which the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency, have been hampered by the DRC’s long-running conflicts, including that between the Congolese army and the M23.

Having seized swathes of land in the mineral-rich east with Rwanda’s help, the M23 has set up to govern for the long run in areas under its control, installing a parallel administration to the Congolese government.