Thousands displaced in the east

Thousands of civilians are reported to be fleeing insecurity in the Tongo Field area of eastern Sierra Leone, a humanitarian source in Freetown told IRIN on Thursday.

“An estimated 3,000-5,000, depending on who you talk to, have been displaced to Kenema,” an official of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

There has been no official registration, but some 1,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have settled in Gofor, south of Kenema, a possible location for a new camp. Several hundred others are staying with relatives.

There was no detailed information available on the health of those arriving but aid agencies which have remained operational in the town have supplies and contingency plans to deal with the situation, the UN said. “At present, the agencies on the ground appear equipped to handle the influx,” Fred Eckhard, spokesman of the UN Secretary-General, told reporters in New York on Wednesday.

There are also unconfirmed reports that up to 7,000 IDPs may be in the eastern town of Daru and surrounding areas. An inter-agency mission hopes to visit the area in the near future. OCHA said there were also no details of the state of health of these IDPs and, moreover, there is no road access to Daru.

The new wave of IDPs follows reports of recent fighting between pro-government forces and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in the Tongo Field area and the clashes between UN and RUF forces during last weekend’s operation to rescue over 200 UN peacekeepers who had been blocked since May in another eastern town, Kailahun.