Displaced still leaving “tense but quiet” Kisangani

The situation in the northeastern DRC city of Kisangani, where the Ugandan and Rwandan armies engaged in clashes earlier this month that left hundreds of people dead, was “tense but quiet” as of Monday, according to humanitarian agencies in the field. The Rwandan army had withdrawn some 50km from the city, but the Ugandan army remained much closer to Kisangani, according to the health NGO Medecins sans frontieres (MSF). The arrival of more Congolese rebels from both the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) and the Mouvement de liberation du congo (MLC) was also noted by relief workers on the ground, and several sources have also said that the Tshopo bridge has been mined. The number of internally-displaced people leaving IDP sites and either returning to their houses (many destroyed in the fighting) or seeking refuge outside Kisangani was increasing, and the number in known sites had declined from around 12,500 to approximately 5,000 as of Friday, according to the information available locally. Though relatively decent water is still running in the city, unconfirmed cholera cases have been reported and the need for chlorination, cholera prevention and cholera testing stocks is keen, humanitarian sources indicate. The WFP has delivered some 17 mt of food to Kisangani, 12 mt from Kinshasa and another five tonnes from the RCD-controlled town of Goma in the east, according to its latest emergency report, received by IRIN on Monday. CARITAS, MSF-Holland and the ICRC also envisaged bringing in some 60 mt of food to Kisangani, the latter targeting hospitals and war-wounded in particular. Humanitarian sources have estimated the human casualties as a result of the most recent fighting between Uganda and Rwanda at over 600 dead and some 1,200 to 1,500 injured. Food distributions have been started for some 4,500 people, targeting especially female-headed households, orphans and the handicapped, but it is estimated that up to 50,000 people may require food aid. Another serious concern was the safe disposal of military ordnance, especially around the Tshopo area; 5,000 to 6,000 shells are estimated to have fallen on Kisangani, without strategic reason, and the danger of unexploded munitions all over the city was tragically illustrated when three children were recently killed after picking up a grenade, humanitarian sources told IRIN.