|
|
 Continued fighting between two ethnic groups in Ituri province in the eastern Congo has sent some 40,000 people fleeing into nearby forests for safety. Militias from the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups have engaged in vicious fighting in recent months, burning homes and killing civilians. Interethnic and international battles have raged in the Congo for more than six years, leaving more than 2.5 million Congolese civilians dead.
Bunia, the provincial capital, has sustained several attacks in recent months. In August, some 3,000 families were forced to flee as militias raided the town of Beni, killing more than 100 people, mostly women and children.
Currently, World Vision is the only operational non-governmental organization responding to need in Beni town. According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced more than 10,000 families. In the past two years, conflict in the Congo has displaced more than 2.6 million people.
|  |
|
