UN blocking refugees - NGO
2008-10-30 17:17
Paris - UN forces are preventing tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo from entering the strategic city of Goma, a French aid group said on Thursday.
"In Goma, tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting are trapped at the gates of the city by MONUC," the UN mission in the DRC, the Secours Catholique said in a statement, quoting its staff in the region.
Violent clashes in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are pitting government forces against rebels led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda, whose forces are closing in on Goma.
The city was gripped by chaos on Wednesday as government troops and residents scrambled to leave, panicked by the influx of about 20 000 refugees from further north.
Nkunda's forces declared a unilateral ceasefire Wednesday after being kept at around 20km from Goma by MONUC helicopter gunships, but the general warned on Thursday that UN forces will not stop him seizing the city.
The UN Security Council has criticised the rebel push in eastern DRC and is mulling redeploying troops to protect civilians in Goma.
- AFP