Violence threatens lives, harvest in Congo

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 12 (UPI) -- A surge in violence in eastern Congo is preventing civilians from tending their crop fields, elevating concerns about the fragility of the situation.

The Switzerland-based International Committee of the Red Cross is reporting fresh outbreaks of rebel violence include rape and other human rights violations along with looting and destruction property that is escalating a humanitarian crisis situation.

The ICRC says the violence in the North and South Kivu provinces in the east of the Congo is preventing civilians from attending their crops endangering their already diminished harvest and depraving the local populations of needed food.

''Today, in some parts of the Kivus, people wake up in the morning not knowing whether they will be able to tend their fields," Max Hadorn, head of the ICRC delegation in the Congo, said in a statement.

"They live with the constant fear of having their scant harvest taken from them at gunpoint or being attacked themselves. These people often have first-hand experience of such violence. Their fear is forcing them further and further away from their homes in search of shelter and safety."