9.1 million Africans displaced internally

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Tuesday that by its count there are 9.1 million people displaced internally from their homes in central and eastern Africa.

The December estimate was down about 400,000 from six months earlier, but officials with the international organization said the situation is too fluid to put too much store on the reduction.

The number of refugees forced to seek haven outside their homelands as of December stood at 1.8 million, with most of them hosted by Chad, Tanzania and Kenya, the U.N. report released in New York revealed.

According to the report, half of those displaced within their countries -- 4.58 million -- are in Sudan, including 2.7 million in the country's war-torn Darfur region.

Besides conflicts, natural disasters such as floods and drought are the other main factors for people leaving their homes.