UN warns over DR Congo killings

Africa

UN agency says 537 civilians killed by Ugandan rebels in Central African Republic.

Last Modified: 13 Jan 2009 21:37 GMT

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UNHCR says 104,000 villagers have been displaced by the violence which broke out in September [AFP]

Ugandan rebels have killed at least 537 people and kidnapped 408 others during raids on villages in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo since September, the UN has said.

The rebel group, which is calling itself the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is fleeing a multinational military offensive led by Uganda.

Ron Redmond, the spokesman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said on Tuesday: "We are increasingly concerned about the humanitarian situation and continuing attacks by the LRA on the civilian population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Orientale province.

"At least 104,000 people have also been forced to flee the violence which broke out last September in the region neighbouring southern Sudan and Uganda," Redmond said.

"Many of these internally displaced people are still hiding in the bush, particularly in areas around the town of Faradje which was heavily hit during the Christmas period."

LRA 'causing panic'

An estimated 37,000 people have fled from Faradje, a town which borders Sudan, including at least 10,000 children, the UNHCR said in a statement.

The LRA is accused of 'causing panic and new displacement' throughout the region [AFP]

Uganda, DR Congo and South Sudan launched a joint assault against the LRA on December 14 after Joseph Kony, the rebel leader, failed again to sign a peace deal to end his rebellion against the Ugandan government.

However, the military action has provoked further retaliatory raids by the rebels against the local civilian population.

Redmond said sightings of LRA rebels are "causing panic and new displacement" throughout the region.

The UN agency's staff was also reporting "considerable ongoing population movements in the direction of Faradje and areas south of Dungu," he said.

"We remain extremely concerned about the fate of residents who are now increasingly caught in a conflict zone near the borders of the DRC, the Central African Republic and Sudan," Redmond said.

The LRA last week demanded an end to a joint regional military offensive against its forces and urged UN mediators to organise fresh talks.