KINSHASA, 11 September 2008 (IRIN) - Many thousands of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, many of them repeatedly displaced, have been forced to flee again amid heavy clashes between government forces and troops loyal to renegade Gen Laurent Nkunda.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical charity, described the humanitarian situation in North Kivu as "very worrying" and has evacuated some of its teams in the area because of the fighting.

"The resumption of large-scale hostilities has led to massive population movements, especially of people already displaced who lived in camps," MSF said on its website.

"Everyone in the villages of Katsiro, Kasoko and Nyanzale have fled north. In the space of three days, the 250,000 displaced people who lived in camps on the road between Katsiro and Butare have left, as have the villagers in this area."

MSF said other NGOs had also pulled staff from Rutshuru and Nyanzale, leaving displaced people (IDPs) still in camps there without assistance for the time being.

"There are thousands of IDPs but almost two weeks on since hostilities [resumed], the exact scale of displacement remains unclear," said David Nthengwe, a spokesman for the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, adding that continuing clashes prevented humanitarian aid reaching many of the needy.

"In the light of this situation, UNHCR and its partners are deeply concerned that on-going conflicts appear to be spreading to parts previously in relative calm," he said.

In the first week of September, some 1,300 IDPs arrived in Katale, about 20km from Rutshuru, where intense fighting had started the previous week.

This week, according to Nthengwe, groups of IDPs arrived from Rugari, Kanombe, Kigarama, Bisoko, Ngungo, and Gisigari areas of Rutshuru Territory.

He added that around 1,000 families were reported to have arrived since 9 September at Kanyabayonga, Kayne and Kiluba in North Kivu.

"More displaced persons will also require additional land space, shelter, dietary allocation and expanded medical services to sustain lives. Land in North Kivu has also been a bone of contention between the populations, it is also becoming increasingly difficult for the local authorities to acquire land, which is mostly administered under customary law," Nthengwe said.

He said some 600 new arrivals would be transferred to a new IDP site near Goma, Kibati II, by the end of this week.

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