20100720
africanews

The fighting between government forces and Ugandan rebels in eastern DR Congo has increased the number of displaced people fleeing the country from about 40 000 to 60 000 over the weekend, a UN agency said.

"We're up to 60 000 people. There are at least 55 000 at Oicha, 2 600 at Mbau and 1 050 at Mbahuli," three towns in the north of Nord-Kivu province, said Stefania Trassari, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA).

"The displaced need food, shelter and medical drugs," she said, adding that "humanitarian agencies are organizing a response to help these people".

On Friday an official from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told AFP an army offensive against the Ugandan rebels had displaced more than 37 000 people in the east of the vast country.

The villagers are fleeing fighting between rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces/National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF/NALU) and the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), which launched an offensive on June 26.

At the beginning of last week, the number of people displaced by the clashes was put by the United Nations at some 20 000, in a region not far from the border with Uganda.