KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 7 (UPI) -- Aid operations in Congo's volatile North Kivu province face serious challenges as violence continues, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The ICRC has been working to distribute humanitarian aid to a growing number of civilians who are being forced to flee their homes as a conflict between the Congo government and the rebel Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda continues, the ICRC reported.
Since February, the local population in Congo's eastern North Kivu province have faced ongoing acts of violence -- including rape, murder and pillaging -- from rebels. The ICRC cited the Lubero territory northwest of Goma in North Kivu as a region where the violence has been "acute."
According to a news release, the ICRC has been taking measures to counter the humanitarian crisis through "distributing relief supplies to both the people who have been displaced and the residents of the places hosting them ... (improving) their access to clean water and seeking to reunite members of families separated during the fighting."
