...the Oyster Bay money pit...
has expressed its deep concern about ongoing ethnic fighting in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
, warning that the violence that has forced tens of thousands to seek shelter in neighbouring Uganda "may spread further".
More than 22,000 people fled festivities between Hema herders and Lendu farmers in Ituri province last week, according to the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR).
This marked a dramatic increase in the number of people crossing Lake Albert to reach Uganda in search of safety, bringing the overall figure since the start of the year to 34,000.
The latest influx follows what a UNHCR spokesperson called "the latest and biggest wave" in an outbreak of violence that started in the area in December.
"A number of local monitors have confirmed to us that more than 1,000 houses have been burned in Djugu, Ituri territory, which is the epicentre of the violence. The displaced say that groups of gunnies set houses on fire and killed civilians," Andreas Kirchhof told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.