At least 25 000 people have fled fighting between the army and Mai Mai militiamen in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo region of Katanga since mid-November, humanitarian sources said late on Wednesday.
”We have already counted 25 000 displaced persons, on top of the 70 000 who have already been in this part of north Katanga for several years,” said Michel Bonnardeaux, a spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian office in the DRC.
Those displaced are fleeing an army offensive against loyalists to the Mai Mai militia chief ”Gedeon”, in order to re-establish order ahead of a planned constitutional referendum on December 18.
Gedeon is accused of numerous crimes against local people in Bukama, Kabalo, Mitwaba and Pweto, about 400km to 600km north of Lubumbashi, the capital of the mineral-rich
Katanga region.
In the Pweto and Bukama areas alone, the UN has counted some 20 000 refugees.
According to medical charity Médécins Sans Frontières in Pweto, ”the flood of displaced people continues” and numbers are difficult to estimate as ”many stay hidden in the scrubland”.
”Today [Wednesday] we have seen 800 families on the road, heading towards Pweto. This influx will rapidly cause problems with the food supply,” said Diego Cameno of Médécins Sans Frontières in Kinshasa.
An initial convoy of 109 tonnes of World Food Programme supplies should be sent to Dubie, near Pweto, in the next few days, according to the UN humanitarian operation. – Sapa-AFP