Some 20,000 displaced in Pointe-Noire

Thousands of displaced persons have been fleeing into Congo’s economic capital of Pointe-Noire, WFP said in its latest weekly emergency report. It said about 20,000 displaced Congolese had so far arrived in the port city. Among the new arrivals were some 200 malnourished children who were provided with one-week WFP food rations, the report said. A crisis unit was set up by the government to transport and assist the displaced persons. The unit includes WFP, UNHCR and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the report added. Fighting between government forces and militia groups since late 1998 has displaced an undetermined number of people from the Pool region and other areas of southern Congo.