afrol News, 24 November - Displaced civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have stoned a UN peacekeepers convoy at a refugee camp in Kibati, accusing the mission of failing to protect refugees in safety camps.

The conflict in eastern province, Kivu between renegade army leader, general Laurent Nkunda and army backed Mai Mai, which erupted in August, has driven a quarter of a million people out of their homes.

Local media said a UN peacekeepers convoy was stopped in a roadblock at Kibati camp by soldiers accusing them of being rebels.

However, the peacekeepers' spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, said peacekeepers were with 10 surrendered rebels who were yet to be handed to the military. "But because of this incident, it was agreed on the spot to hand them over," he said.

Some refugees have expressed their disappointment on the UN mission, blaming it for the plight of thousands of displaced people in the eastern provinces for failing to protect them against government troops and rebels.

General Nkuda claims to be protecting Congo's minority Tutsis, whom he claims are threatened by Hutu militias from Rwanda, many having fled to Congo's forests after participating in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

However, critics have accused him of causing instability in a bid to gain power, saying his attacks have increased resentment against Tutsis.

Displaced Congolese are threatened as well by diseases that breed rapidly in crowded and unsanitary camps. On Sunday, an aid group sent a first post-fighting batch of medical supplies to ravaged eastern Congo town.

Upsurge in fighting in North Kivu province bordering Rwanda and growing involvement of neighbouring states in moves to end the conflict have raised fears of a repeat of the 1998 to 2003 DRC war that sucked in armies from the region.

Kinshasa has repeatedly denied that foreign troops are on its soil to support pro-government troops battling Mr Nkunda's rebel forces, an assertion echoed by the UN mission, which has 17,000 blue-helmeted peacekeepers on the ground.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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