Democratic Republic Of Congo: Ituri fighting may have displaced thousands

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BUNIA, 28 Jun 2005 (IRIN) - Thousands of Congolese civilians
may have been displaced by recent fighting between UN
peacekeeping troops and local militiamen in northeastern
Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN mission's public
information officer, Mohammad Abdoul Wahab, said on Tuesday.

A Medu resident who arrived in Bunia late Monday, Jean
Mbafele, said: "We all fled into the bush. Only people who
participated in the fighting stayed in the village."

They escaped as an eight-hour battle raged around their
village of Medu, 25 km south of Bunia, in Ituri District,
Orientale Province. Medu has a population of some 4,000.

The UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) in the area has not yet been able to access the
humanitarian situation, its information officer in the area,
Idrissa Conteh, said on Tuesday. He said the humanitarian
community had ceased activity in the area since 20 June and
only restarted on Sunday.

During Monday's fighting, UN Bangladeshi and Indian troops
fought more than 1,000 militiamen of the Fronts des
nationalistes et intégrationnistes who were armed with
mortars, rockets and grenades, Wahab said. The UN used two MI-
25 combat helicopters in the operation and reinforced its
troops with Pakistanis.

The UN troops repelled the militiamen who tried to return
again in the afternoon, Wahab said. UN troops are continuing
to patrol the area and, Wahab said, Medu was now calm.

"All the militiamen have fled and abandoned the village," he
said.