Agencies seek early return of displaced

Some neighbourhoods of southern Brazzaville were completely looted and many houses were destroyed during the recent unrest in the capital, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Dominique AitOuyahia McAdams told IRIN yesterday (Wednesday). Some of the northern Brazzaville sites sheltering the displaced were overcrowded and one church, St-Esprit, was now hosting more than 9,000 people, she said. ICRC is providing water and sanitation assistance at five sites, the IFRC and Congolese Red Cross are assessing needs and UN agencies’ relief stocks will be made available for the affected populations, McAdams said. Humanitarian agencies are hoping the government will take the necessary measures to enable people to return to their homes as soon as possible, McAdams added. The security situation in the city remained tenuous yesterday and military operations were continuing beyond the Djoue bridge, humanitarian sources said.

Meanwhile, McAdams said she was “extremely worried” over the fate of at least 29 Congolese staff members and consultants of UN agencies who remain unaccounted for since the outbreak of fighting in Brazzaville last week.