Rebel advance forcing Congolese to Uganda

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The persistent advance of rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have forced nearly 13,000 residents into neighboring Uganda, officials say.

Officials with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said facing the approach of rebels led by Gen, Laurent Nkunda, nearly 250,000 Congolese have been forced from their homes and many have begun fleeing the war-torn country, the BBC said Thursday.

Meanwhile, U.N. officials confirmed they would be reinforcing the 17,000 U.N. troops already in DRC territories with another 3,000 soldiers.

Despite such assurances of additional troops in the African country, former U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has criticized the international community for not being active enough in the fight against DRC violence.

"There was not this indecisiveness in the Balkans, Iraq or the wider Middle East," he told the BBC.

The British broadcaster said while Nkunda is currently operating under a cease-fire he implemented last week, the rebel leader says foreign militia are not protected under the agreement.