About 15,000 reportedly displaced by fighting

About 15,000 people have been displaced by fighting in areas to the west and northwest of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (ROC), humanitarian sources reported late on Tuesday. "The gravity of the situation is hard to estimate," said one. "It may end rapidly, but could also lead to prolonged fighting." While Congolese authorities have attributed the fighting to attacks by so-called "Ninja" militias, this has not yet been confirmed by independent sources. On Tuesday, continuing gunfire and helicopter bombing was reported from the Pool region that surrounds the capital, while villages in northern Pool (Kimba and environs) were said to have been burned. People were fleeing into forests or seeking the protection of military posts. In Kinkala, some 90 km southwest of Brazzaville, three displaced camps have been established for an estimated 3,500 internally displaced people (IDPs), according to humanitarian sources. However, according to AFP, while the town had remained untouched by the fighting, IDPs were facing a shortage of food and medicine, and the local hospital had been deserted by personnel, who had fled for security. In Kindamba, some 150 km northwest of the capital, the Congolese Ministry of Health and Humanitarian Action reported that another 5,000 IDPs had been accommodated in three sites. Meanwhile, IDPs arriving in Brazzaville from Mayama, located some 75 km northwest of the capital, said the army had evacuated the town. Petrol is reportedly available in the capital, but in very limited quantities, with long queues at the city's fuel stations. Prices of local produce (fruits, manioc, vegetables) have increased, in some cases almost doubling. On Wednesday, calm was reported to have returned to Brazzaville, following panic in the city on Tuesday evening after shots were heard. An army commander later told ROC state radio that the army had only fired "warning shots" and that there had been no casualties, AFP reported. Military authorities in ROC had announced on Tuesday that they had launched a major military operation to confiscate illegal weapons, AFP added. Minister of Health and Humanitarian Action Leon Alfred Opimbat has formally requested humanitarian assistance, especially for IDPs in Kinkala and Kindamba. A joint mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres which arrived in Kinkala on 6 April was able to provide some non-food items and open a small health centre. World Food Programme assistance is also reported to be en route, with distributions expected to begin on Thursday. However, access to affected populations will depend largely on security conditions. Hostilities erupted in ROC at the end of March, when several government military positions in the Pool region were reportedly attacked by Ninjas, according to official sources. Ninja representatives have countered that the clashes were provoked when they discovered government plans to arrest their leader, the Rev Frederic Bitsangou (alias Ntoumi). Last Tuesday, 2 April, two people were killed and 12 wounded in an attack on a passenger train travelling from Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville. According to AFP, Ntoumi and his followers denied any involvement in the attack, and blamed the army. To date, rail service remains suspended. Last month, Col Michel Ngakala, the High Commissioner for the Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in the ROC, accused Ntoumi of opposing the demobilisation of his men and thereby constituting a threat to peace. Although Ntoumi has expressed willingness to the United Nations Development Programme and the International Organisation for Migration for his men to be reintegrated, negotiations between him and the government have thus far been unsuccessful. Following the end of the civil war with the 1999 ceasefire agreements, the process of demobilising an estimated total of 25,000 militia fighters has been underway in ROC. It includes members of the Cobras (loyal to current President Denis Sassou-Nguesso), the Cocoyes (loyal to former President Pascal Lissouba), and the Ninjas (loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas). More than 7,500 ex-combatants have been assisted in the transition to civilian life through funds and training to start small businesses, while some 1,800 have been reintegrated by the government, primarily into the army. The initiative has also collected and destroyed 12,000 small arms. On 10 March, Sassou-Nguesso won a landslide victory in the ROC's first presidential elections since 1992, with over 89 percent of the vote. Former Prime Minister Andre Milongo, considered to be Sassou-Nguesso's main challenger, withdrew from the race on 8 March, claiming irregularities. Former President Pascal Lissouba, who defeated Sassou-Nguesso in 1992, and former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas were barred from entering the race by the revised constitution, which requires candidates to have resided continuously in the country for at least two years before the election. Both are living abroad in exile, having been tried and convicted in absentia for crimes allegedly committed during the civil war that plagued the nation throughout the 1990s. This was the first time Sassou-Nguesso was elected to the presidency, an office he first seized in 1979 and held until 1992, and then seized again in 1997, until last month's elections.