More than 50,000 people have fled intensified fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, the UN said Friday.
In a statement, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said those displaced include an overwhelming number of children – including many unaccompanied by either a parent or a guardian.
The UNHCR added that brutal attacks blamed on the Ugandan rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed at least 13 people at a site hosting forcibly displaced people in the village of Mbau, Beni Territory, on Sept. 21.
“In fear for their lives, many others fled from the nearby fields where they were working, leaving everything behind. The following day, the same armed group reportedly looted and burnt down a health clinic at Musuku village,” according to the statement.