Attacks displace up to 20,000 Central Africans - UN | Reuters

Attacks displace up to 20,000 Central Africans - UN | Reuters: "BANGUI, June 5 (Reuters) - Up to 20,000 people fled their homes in Central African Republic last week when the army torched hundreds of houses after a rebel attack, U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday, quoting local relief workers.

The northwest of the former French colony has seen waves of violence in the past two years, with sporadic rebel attacks and counter-raids by government troops who have burnt thousands of straw-thatched mud houses trying to flush out rebels.

Humanitarian agencies reckon some 290,000 civilians from northern Central African Republic have been forcibly displaced in the past 18 months, including 78,000 who have crossed into neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Sudan.

Last week's violence in the town of Ngaoundaye, not far from the borders of Cameroon and Chad, sent nearly 300 people fleeing across the border into Chad, including men with bullet wounds, the UNHCR said.

It gave no indication of any death toll.

'After initial rebel attacks on Ngaoundaye, government forces reportedly entered the town and burned 540 houses, forcing most of the estimated 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants to flee their homes,' the Geneva-based agency said in a briefing note.

'The area remains insecure and inaccessible to U.N. staff. It is difficult to get precise information but initial reports from humanitarian workers on the ground indicate that up to 20,000 people might be displaced in the area,' it said.

Officials in the area could not be reached for comment." Read complete post here.