The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday began airlifting relief supplies to people in the war-torn northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN press release said.
The airlift is bringing food and emergency equipment to Dungu, a town in Orientale province, where civilians have been attacked in recent months by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that has battled Ugandan government forces since the mid-1980s.
"The suffering in Dungu has been overlooked as events further south in Goma and North Kivu have taken centre stage in recent weeks," said Mustapha Darboe, WFP regional director for East, Central and Southern Africa.
"Many thousands have been displaced and are living in fear of their children being abducted. Their situation could hardly be any worse."
The agency said that at least 70,000 people are believed to be in need of help in an area where insecurity has severely hampered humanitarian access.
The WFP is continuing to help those affected by heavy clashes in North and South Kivu provinces.
Last month, the agency reached more than half a million people in eastern DR Congo, 383,000 of whom are in North Kivu.
Escalating conflict between government forces and the rebel militia known as the National Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP) has uprooted an estimated 250,000 people since late August, mainly in North Kivu.
Source:Xinhua
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