Tracking - Renewed Fighting in Congo, Ceasefire in Jeopardy

by Michael Bear · 2008-11-08 18:44:00 UTC
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[Fighting near Goma - Footage from Al Jazeera; contains graphic images]

Fighting in eastern Congo has caused over 250,000 civilians to flee their homes since August.

In late October, rebel forces under Laurent Nkunda overran the Congolese Army and advanced to the edges of Goma, the largest city in North Kivu province, at which point Nkunda declared a ceasefire.

Aid workers are struggling to reach hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting.

Developments since Friday:

- There was a fire-fight between rebel forces and the Congolese Army near Kibati on Friday.

At the time, as many as 65,000 people were huddled in displaced person camps in the area - thousands of whom fled towards Goma following yesterday's fighting.

As one twelve year-old told Reuters: "I heard bullets and bombs from Kibati yesterday. I just dropped my luggage and ran.  I don't know where my parents are. Last night I slept in a banana plantation."

UN peacekeepers were eventually able to contain the fighting, and the area is apparently quiet today.

- Overall, aid agencies fear that the humanitarian situation could get far worse, especially as the violence has kept aid workers from reaching many of those in need.

For more information about the humanitarian situation, see below:

Yesterday's fighting around Kibati caused aid agencies to halt both a food distribution and vaccination campaign in the area.

Similarly, recent fighting near Rutshuru caused aid workers to be evacuated from the area.  According to a UNICEF official: "We had a humanitarian convoy in at that time. They had to be evacuated. Right now, there is no humanitarian access to the entire Rutshuru territory."

And people are growing desperate - a recent food distribution nearly caused a riot, as people had not eaten for days.

[For an excellent article explaining why aid agencies are finding it difficult to reach those in need, see here.]

- Overall, as many as 252,000 people have fled the fighting in the area since August, many of whom are now at risk from malnutrition and epidemics such as measles and cholera.

UNICEF reports that in some displaced person camps the number of cholera cases have doubled, with one UNICEF official reporting that "[w]e're extremely concerned that in areas that we can't reach, cholera epidemics could reach catastrophic levels."

- Finally, Ushahidi has created an excellent website to track the situation in eastern Congo, including humanitarian activities.  For the most recent OCHA Humanitarian Situation Update (November 7th), see here.

Michael Bear
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