Attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels have forced thousands of people to flee their homes in eastern Congo while fighting has also flared between rival militias near the northeastern town of Bunia, UN officials said today.
The clashes are hampering attempts by the United Nations to bring peace to Congo's lawless east, still volatile despite the official end of a five-year civil war which claimed over three million lives, mainly through hunger and disease.
Some 4,000 people have fled to the town of Mwenga in the South Kivu province following attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said.
The rebels fled into Congo after taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Much of the area around Mwenga remains under the control of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), a largely Rwandan Hutu rebel group.