United Nations Radio

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed that "armed actors" have been circulating at two UN camps for the internally displaced.

The camps, located some 10 kilometres north of Goma, were largely deserted last week in a panic by its residents. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme says that camps visited by its staff in the town of Rutshuru were almost empty of their residents, and many shelters burned to the ground.

The agency adds that it remains unclear where all the camp residents have gone, but some are believed to have returned to their original villages.

As other IDPs have been returning to camps near Goma, the food aid they have received included high energy biscuits, water and medical supplies.

But UN ofificals say serious concerns remain about their health, as some 70 cases of cholera have already been recorded in camps near both Goma and Rutshuru.

In a bid to prepare for any outflux of refugees from North Kivu to Uganda, WFP Uganda is pre-positioning 500 tons of food - enough to feed 30,000 people for a month at key spots along their likely path. The same is being done at the Nkamira transit centre in Gisenyi, just across the border with Rwanda.

This is Donn Bobb for United Nations Radio.

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