Thousands reportedly begin to flee troubled east

As the spectre of renewed conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda grows daily, thousands of civilians have begun fleeing some eastern areas of the Congo, humanitarian and religious officials in the area have said.

"Population movements, difficult to monitor, have been noted in the north part of North Kivu Province," Bernard LeFlaive, a humanitarian affairs officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said on Monday.

"Fighting began on Thursday," he said. "The Rwandan Defence Forces and their allies from [the Congolese] 8th Military Region attacked Rwanda rebels of the FDLR [Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda] and told civilians they had a choice to leave or stay, but those who stay are considered FDLR and are killed."

Based on information collected from local authorities and civilians, LeFlaive estimates that tens of thousands of people could now be on the move.

He said OCHA would send a mission on Wednesday to the troubled area, where massive displacements were possible, especially in parts of the Lubero, Masisi and Walikale territories.

A Roman Catholic priest in the town of Beni-Butembo, Melchisedec Sikuli, reported that seven villages have already been burned.

"A great number of displaced have fled to Miriki, some 10 km from the parishes of Luofu and Kanyambayongo, where some of the displaced came from, but all the information collected from Rutshuru and Kanyabayonga indicates that it is a Rwandan attack with help from members of RCD-Goma [a former rebel movement]," Sikuli said.

Congolese Regional Cooperation Minister Mbusa Nyamwisi said from Beni that, according to his information, 15 people were killed in the village of Ikobo.

"The Rwandan troops burned everything on Sunday within Lubero, Walikale and Rutshuru - raiding like never before, particularly in Vulehusa where it was very serious," Nyamwisi said.

He said Rwanda's aim was to prevent members of a Rwandan militia, known as Interahamwe, and former Rwandan soldiers, known as ex-FAR - some of whom now form the FDLR - from being repatriated.

"We are in the middle of the DDRRR [disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reinsertion and reinstallation] programme, but – surprisingly - as we are nearing the end, the Rwandan army decides to attack to sabotage all the efforts," Nyamwisi said. "Rwanda's objective is to disperse the Rwandan combatants into the forest."

Rwanda has neither denied nor conceded that its troops had re-entered eastern DRC, which they left in 2002, and the UN Mission in DRC has not yet been able to confirm reports of their presence.

However, Rwanda has been calling for the disarmament of the FDLR for years, saying it would send its army into the Congo to do the job if the Congolese authorities and the UN failed to do so.