/ 8 July 2009

Red Cross: 400 000 displaced in eastern DRC

About 400 000 people have fled tension and violence in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since March, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Wednesday.

In North Kivu province, about 300 000 civilians have fled their homes, while in South Kivu about 100 000 were displaced because of the threat from combatants accused of rape and looting, said the ICRC’s outgoing delegation chief in the country, Max Hadorn.

Last Thursday, Human Rights Watch denounced what it called a ”spectacular increase” in the number of rebel attacks on civilians in eastern and north-eastern DRC since January. — Sapa-AFP