U.N.: Congo refugee attacks disrupt aid

NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Armed attacks on refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo are disrupting humanitarian aid efforts, the United Nations said.

More than 1 million displaced people fleeing violence in the east of the country are living in makeshift camps that have been targets of human rights violations and bandit attacks, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

A Rwandan Hutu rebel group reportedly attacked a camp in January, killing three people and injuring several others, OCHA said.

The attack was apparently an attempt to forcibly recruit men to the Hutu group, which has been operating in the eastern Congo since the Rwandan genocide of 1994, residents of the camp report.

OCHA estimated there are about 1.3 million internally displaced people in the Congo's two eastern Kivu provinces.

Aid efforts have been hampered not only by violence and rampant banditry but also by the poor condition of roads and infrastructure, OCHA said.