Conflict causes continued displacement in Katanga

The church umbrella group ACT, in a revised appeal for relief projects in Katanga and Orientale Provinces, quoted reports of a front of confrontation in Katanga "stretching from Lake Tanganyika to Kabinda in Kasai (Orientale)". The regular flow of displaced people from Manono, Nyunzu and Kabongo illustrated that the Lusaka ceasefire had "yet to come into effect" in the region, while the humanitarian situation in Moba, Kalemie and Nyunzu has been described as "a disaster", ACT stated. In Lubumbashi, international relief staff were "unanimous in describing the current situation as approaching a catastrophe", it added. It said there were some 110,000 internally displaced people in Katanga Province as of mid-October. Since then, there has been a regular and increasing flow rather than any general return to people's home areas. Lubumbashi had accumulated around 36,000 IDPs, while some 34,000 more have gathered at Malemba-Nkulu - a swampy region north of Lubumbashi, where access was difficult and where dysentery, malnutrition and malaria were habitual problems, it added. There were also significant concentrations of IDPs around Pweto and in Kamina, Likasi and Kasenga, ACT said.