UNHCR concerned about tensions in DR Congo

CYANGUGU, Rwanda, June 3 (UNHCR) - Hundreds of Congolese refugees have crossed the border into Rwanda following yesterday's fighting in the Bukavu region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

On Wednesday morning, the UN refugee agency received 50 new arrivals in Rwanda's Cyangugu border area. This figure quickly grew to 350 by the end of the day, bringing to 2,350 the total number of Congolese refugees arriving in Cyangugu in recent days after fleeing fighting between government troops and rebels formerly from the Goma-based group, Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD).

No new arrivals were reported as of Thursday afternoon.

Tensions are high in Bukavu after the town fell to the rebels on Wednesday, with reports of widespread looting, including at the UN World Food Programme's warehouse. An attempted attack on UNHCR's compound was thwarted, and the agency's staff have been put on security alert.

Meanwhile, the situation elsewhere in the DRC remains worrying, with anti-government and anti-UN violence reported on the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, and Lubumbashi in the south-east, near the border with Zambia.