UN warns over DR Congo killings

“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.