Over 50 000 displaced in eastern DRC

KIGALI – At least 50 000 civilians have been displaced from their homes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last three weeks following heavy fighting between government troops and rebel fighters in the volatile region, UN officials said on Saturday.

The UN Mission in DRC (MONUC), citing the world body’s humanitarian wing, reported that some 10 106 families – each with an average of five people – were present in three towns, north of the North Kivu provincial capital Goma. “According to figures we received from OCHA, there are 10 106 displaced families, that is 50,530 people, between Kirumba and Kanyabayonga,” MONUC’s spokeswoman Rachel Eklou-Assogbavi told AFP, referring to outposts north of Goma.Last month, rebels loyal to a renegade DRC general Laurent Nkunda rampaged through six villagens – all within 40 kilometres from the town of Rutshuru, 75 kilometres north of Goma – forcing tens of thousands to flee.Most of the displaced are living with local families, according to humanitarian workers operating in the region The renewed violence in the powderkeg eastern region come as the vast central African nation is preparing for first democratic elections in four decades aimed at restoring a stability after years of civil war.Analysts have said the unrest by Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi, who in 2004 briefly occupied Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, is aimed at scuppering the elections.- Nampa-AFP”According to figures we received from OCHA, there are 10 106 displaced families, that is 50,530 people, between Kirumba and Kanyabayonga,” MONUC’s spokeswoman Rachel Eklou-Assogbavi told AFP, referring to outposts north of Goma.Last month, rebels loyal to a renegade DRC general Laurent Nkunda rampaged through six villagens – all within 40 kilometres from the town of Rutshuru, 75 kilometres north of Goma – forcing tens of thousands to flee.Most of the displaced are living with local families, according to humanitarian workers operating in the region The renewed violence in the powderkeg eastern region come as the vast central African nation is preparing for first democratic elections in four decades aimed at restoring a stability after years of civil war.Analysts have said the unrest by Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi, who in 2004 briefly occupied Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, is aimed at scuppering the elections.- Nampa-AFP