The Government of Zambia has formally engaged their Congolese counterparts over the recent spate of attacks on international drivers in that country.

The extraordinary meeting of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region Ministers of Defense has elected Brigadier General Charles Nakeempa of Zambia as the Commander of the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A Zambian national, Marock Kalonga has been fined about N$900,000 or four years' imprisonment in default for aiding 13 illegal immigrants.

Kalonga was apprehended on 14th November for facilitating the illegal movement of 113 foreign nationals, comprising eleven Pakistani and two Ethiopian nationals.

An American tourist, Christopher Gibbs, has died after plunging 100 metres from the Knife Edge Bridge at the Victoria Falls heritage site.

Gibbs, who arrived in Zimbabwe on 26 December, crossed into Zambia on Monday before allegedly committing suicide the following day.

Zambia has successfully concluded its extended International Monetary Fund Credit Facility programme.

The Department of Immigration in Zambia has deported 48 Ethiopian nationals, while 19 have been convicted.

Among those deported are 39 Ethiopian nationals who were apprehended on 23rd November last year in Kapiri Mposhi District after being discovered concealed in a fuel tanker. 

Zambia's Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit has successfully evacuated 54 flood victims from the Kamwala area of the Eastern Province, following flooding of the Lundazi River five days ago.

Zambian authorities have called upon the Congolese authorities to strengthen road patrols along commonly used truck routes to enhance safety.

The appeal comes after reports of some missing foreign truck drivers and one left dead, allegedly after an attack.

The Zambia Council of Catholic Bishops has termed the summoning of its Lusaka Cosmopolitan Archbishop Alick Banda by the Drug Enforcement Commission as an attack on the church's mission and leadership.

At the request of the International Conference (ICC) on the Great Lakes Region, Zambia has agreed to host an urgent regional ministerial meeting to discuss the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).