Saturday, January 21, 2006

Thousands flee clashes between DRC troops, militia

From a report by SAPA, 19 Jan, 2006 [via Coalition for Darfur with thanks]:
An offensive by troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against militia armies in the volatile east has driven 122,000 people from their homes, the United Nations mission in the DRC (Monuc) said on Wednesday.

'A new wave of 46,000 people has been displaced since November 2005 in districts of Nord-Katanga which are still the theatre of military operations against armed groups roaming the region, bringing the total number of displaced persons to 122,000,' Monuc deputy spokesperson Eliana Naaba said.

Much further north, an armed gang loyal to a renegade general on Wednesday attacked an army position at Runyonyi in Nord-Kivu province, according to the local military commander, Colonel Jean-Marie She Kasikila, who accused Rwandan troops of backing the rebels."

No comments: