Congolese flee for lives

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Source: CCTV.com | 10-29-2008 09:01

Over in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tens of thousands of residents in an eastern town are fleeing for their lives.

Tens of thousands of residents in an eastern town are fleeing for their lives.(CCTV.com)

As rebel forces close in, the national army is preparing to abandon its positions in the area.

The area north of Kivu province normally shelters tens of thousands of internal refugees.

These are people who have been displaced by nearly two years of constant fighting in the tin-mining region.

Heavily armed Tutsi rebels were battling their way along a road toward Rutshuru, about 100 kilometers north of Kivu's provincial capital of Goma.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the country sent attack helicopters against rebel positions north of Goma on Monday. But the counter-offensive failed to reassure the civilians, who continue to flee.

A spokesman for the UN High Commission for Refugees says another peacekeeping team is on its way to help.

Ron Redmond, Spokesman for UN High Commission for Refugees, said, "It's a very difficult security situation to work in. Basically, those who have been forced to flee their homes have to reach us because we simply cannot send teams out into the countryside, there is simply too muchfighting going on its too dangerous, it's anarchy. So we have to remain fairly close to our headquarters in that region in Goma."

UN peacekeepers had tried in vain to evacuate around 50 foreign aid workers from Rutshuru, whose passage was blocked by the local population.

There have also been reports of attacks on humanitarian installations and looting.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei