New exodus reported in DR Congo

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The United Nations' refugee agency reported tens of thousands of displaced people were on the run from fighting Wednesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Workers with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported seeing the exodus of previously uprooted people fleeing fighting between government troops and rebels in and around the eastern city of Goma.

The agency said the flight from U.N. refugee camps to the city was made more miserable by torrential rains and the sound of mortar and gunfire.

Aid workers said they saw evidence the camps they had fled had been looted of whatever had been left behind.

"Fighting in North Kivu province between government forces, renegade troops and rebels since December 2006 has led to the worst internal displacement in the area since the end of the civil war in 2004," the release said. "Some 375,000 Congolese have been forced to leave their homes in the province, including more than 160,000 in the last two months alone."