Concerns raised over rebels blocking camps

GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A top U.N. official says rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo allegedly are blocking people fleeing violence from accessing a refugee camp.

Antonio Guterres, U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said officials from the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Congo are saying that rebels from the Congress in Defense of the People militant group are preventing citizens trying to flee the ongoing violence from reaching a U.N. camp set up in Rutshuru, Congo, on the border with Uganda, the United Nations reported.

While violence in Congo's North Kivu province has diminished slightly between Congolese government and rebel CNDP forces led by former general Laurent Nkunda, sporadic violence continues to threaten the lives of local citizens. The violence has prompted an estimated 250,000 people to flee their homes.

A spokesman for Guterres said CNDP rebels allegedly are recruiting child soldiers to conduct patrols in order to prevent citizens from being able to reach the Rutshuru camp, where aid is being distributed to approximately 10,000 people.

"Some 10,000 internally displaced people are sheltering around the United Nations base, fearing reprisals from armed groups," spokesman Ron Redmond said in a statement.

"The rebel group has reportedly recruited youths to conduct night patrols and to prevent people from reaching the site."