Congolese flee to Uganda over ADF attacks.

Thousands of Congolese are fleeing to Uganda after Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels invaded the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, forcing them to leave their homes.


Sources of the Red Cross estimate the refugees to be over 55,000, a number that has overwhelmed key Aid agencies.

Refugees line up for registration in Bundibugyo.

"Given such numbers there is need for urgent humanitarian assistance, as some of the refugees are sick and have left all their belongings in Congo," Uganda Red Cross official Catherine Ntabadde told AFP.

The Western District of Bundibugyo is awash with Congolese refugees, and are spread across several schools in the District.

The Red Cross are working with the United Nations and other aid agencies to set up a camp further inside Uganda, although many refugees appeared reluctant to leave.

The town of Kamango in the northernmost part of DR Congo's North Kivu province was attacked and briefly occupied Thursday by a Ugandan-led rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Residents of Kamango said that public buildings and the hospital had been pillaged but no toll was given of possible casualties.

In Bundibugyo, refugees carried their belongings piled on their heads, including rolled-up mattresses, cooking pots goats, pigs and chickens.

Some refugees complained that while they had seen food delivered by the UN World Food Programme, they had not yet received any.

"We have nothing to eat, because when we ran from the rebels we could only grab what we had around us and could carry,"

Many complained of having been hungry for all the three days they have been in Uganda.