LONDON (AlertNet) Â? Fighting around the town of Beni in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo drove about 20,000 people from their homes last week, tripling the number of internally displaced in the area, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
The United Nations said earlier that its teams on the ground had reported Â?serious humanitarian needsÂ? in Beni, in North Kivu province, following recent clashes between the Congolese army and Ugandan ADF-NALU rebels, a small group which has been based in the area for years.
Beni and the surrounding area had been spared much of the violence that has raged elsewhere in the violent east of the country, arising from several parallel conflicts.
Â?The territory was so far host to only a small number of IDPs - an estimated 10,000,Â? a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Kinshasa told AlertNet. Â?The humanitarian community is severely concerned about this new situation.Â?
Rapid Response to Movements of Population, a U.N. programme implemented through six non-governmental organisations, is helping civilians in the area, she added.
They are not the only victims of the increased insecurity.
Relief groups and their staff in the east have suffered 68 attacks since the start of the year, the spokeswoman said. The most common crimes among these were stealing and robberies, while killings of relief staff were very rare.
A militia faction kidnapped eight Red Cross workers in April but later released them.
Rape is widespread in the DRC and is mainly perpetrated by soldiers and militias. But authorities reported a high number of sexual attacks, believed to be by civilians, in the eastern city of Isiro between May and June.
Â?Rapes are perpetrated by both armed and civilian men. It is a very critical issue,Â? said an OCHA spokeswoman in Geneva.
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva)
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