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Friday, October 31, 2008

DR Congo refugee camps 'burned'

The UN says it has credible reports that camps sheltering 50,000 displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been destroyed.
Reports suggest the camps were forcibly emptied and looted before being burned, the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said.
Aid groups say they are struggling to reach an estimated 250,000 people in the region fleeing fierce fighting between government and rebel forces.
Intense diplomatic efforts are under way to end the crisis.
A ceasefire is holding in and around Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, but aid agency chiefs say the situation remains highly volatile.
See detailed map of the area
Food and water are terribly scarce, and aid agencies have all but stopped work, says the BBC's Peter Greste in Goma.
Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda's forces are positioned some 15km (nine miles) from the city.
The origin of the ongoing conflict in eastern DR Congo is the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.
Gen Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of taking part in the genocide.
The Congolese government has often promised to stop Hutu forces from using its territory, but has not done so.
There have also been accusations of collusion between DR Congo's army and Hutu guerrillas.
The Congolese government, for its part, has accused Rwanda of backing Gen Nkunda.
Rwanda denies this, but it has twice invaded its much larger neighbour in recent years.

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