Civilians displaced in renewed fighting in Ituri

Civilians in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have been displaced following renewed fighting between armed groups in the district, an official of the UN Mission in the DRC told IRIN on Monday.

"There was still fighting in the morning [Monday] between two armed groups, les Forces armées populaires du Congo [FAPC], and le Front des nationalistes intégrationnistes, in the village of Djegu, some 35 km east of Mahagi," Rachel Eklou, the spokeswoman for the UN mission, said in Bunia, the main town in Ituri, where the mission has set up a permanent base.

The fighting affected the villages of Aru, Rona, Ngote and Ndrele, despite the signing on 14 May of an "engagement act" between seven militia groups in Ituri to end all hostilities.

Eklou said the UN Mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, initially dispatched a civilian verification team to confirm Monday's fighting. A military mission was later deployed to the scene.

MONUC has not reported any civilian casualties, but population movements have been observed in the direction of Mahagi, north of Bunia.

"The situation is very stretched out, everyone has left and the area is deserted for the moment," Emmanuel Leku, the interim administrator of Ituri District, said.

Leku said many civilians had fled towards the border with Uganda, noting that the village of Ngote was entirely deserted as its inhabitants had taken refuge in Uganda.

On Tuesday, Eklou reported that calm had been restored following a MONUC-brokered ceasefire agreement signed on Monday night between the two militia groups.

MONUC has 4,547 peacekeepers deployed in Ituri, where they are mandated to maintain peace, and are authorised to use force, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter.