FIGHTING spread in eastern aire yesterday, with new raids on villages and refugee camps north of Goma amid growing evidence of a co-ordinated strategy to drive Hutu extremists away from Rwanda's border.
Reports said several dozen people were killed and tens of thousands more were added to the wave of refugees. The latest attacks were apparently launched by Zairean Tutsis in revenge for pogroms in which the Zairean army and Hutu extremists have killed at least 15,000 people and driven many more from their land.
The Zairean government accuses the Rwandan government of being behind the raids. Kigali denies the charge. However, the attacks appear to bear the hall-marks of an organised effort to clear refugee camps which have provided a safe haven for cross-border attacks into Burundi and Rwanda by Hutu extremists.
There were raids on several villages near Katale at dawn yesterday, followed by an attack on Kibumba refugee camp near Goma in which several dozen people were believed killed. More than 20,000 people have fled the site. To the south, there was some fighting in the hills around the town of Uvira as the UN was finally able to evacuate 48 aid workers who were trapped in their compound for days.
The UN refugee agency was still trying to discover the whereabouts of more than 150,000 Hutu refugees from Rwanda and Burundi who fled sites near Uvira at the weekend after raids on at least two of camps. Only a fraction of the refugees has arrived at UN reception centres near the town of Bukavu. Aid workers say they believe the rest must have taken to the hills or fled back to their own countries.
Fighting erupted after Zairean Tutsis living in the Uvira area, known as Banyamulenge, resisted attempts to drive them from their land and force them into Rwanda. While many did flee, others fought back. The authorities accused them of being rebels and threatened extermination.
. Alison O'Connor adds
Concern has evacuated most of its team in Bukavu and Goma in eastern Zaire because of the worsening security situation. The organisation has 40 expatriate staff working in the region, eight of whom were working on the Zairean border until yesterday.
Concern's country director, Mr Dominic McSorley, said the conflict had escalated well beyond an ethnic confrontation and was spreading throughout the region.