Virunga National Park has become the battleground in a new conflict, as conservationsists fight off the advances of rebel militias, poachers and a powerful oil company...For several years de Merode has fiercely opposed Soco’s search for oil in the park. He says drilling would be a ‘potential disaster not just for Virunga and its fragile ecosystem, but for the rule of law, the region’s stability and all of Congo’s national parks’. Soco denies any responsibility for the attack, but its powerful Congolese supporters cannot be excluded from the list of suspects. Soco’s opponents claim that those supporters have used intimidation, detention, bribery, violence and even murder to advance their, and by extension the company’s, interests...After the attack, other Soco opponents received anonymous text messages warning that they would suffer the same fate as de Merode. Moreover, Soco’s supporters include elements of the Congolese army...Soco...denies all the allegations...In a report this week, Global Witness called for a criminal investigation, saying, ‘Soco and its contractors have made illicit payments, appear to have paid off armed rebels and benefited from fear and violence.’ WWF has accused state security forces of creating ‘an atmosphere of fear and intimidation at Soco community meetings’. A coalition of local NGOs has condemned ‘the intimidations, arbitrary arrest and torture of local community members opposing oil developments in Virunga’. It accused...the Congolese army of...‘silenc[ing] anyone who has questions about the true impact of the oil project, in particular human rights and environmental defenders’.