JOHANNESBURG — Congolese rebels have killed 15 civilians and abducted a dozen children in an attack in the center of the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, Congo’s military said Sunday. The violence threatened to again force the suspension of efforts to contain the virus.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was declared on Aug. 1, and has been centered on North Kivu Province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda. On Friday, the World Health Organization said that there had been 118 confirmed Ebola deaths so far and 35 probably caused by the disease, out of more than 200 cases. It is the 10th outbreak in the country since 1976.

Efforts to combat the disease have been complicated by fighting between government forces and armed militias, and by attacks on medical workers.

“We condemn this attack,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. “Everyone should work on achieving peace and fight Ebola.”