cooperators and witnesses reported numerous roads collapsing families Goma the capital of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where tens of thousands of people fled in panic this week against an offense of Congolese Tutsi rebels.
"The situation is catastrophic. There is no other word," said the spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Pierre-Emmanuel Ducruet in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. Building
calm the restive city of Goma and its surroundings after the powerful combat arose this week, many international humanitarian agencies resumed operations, distributing water and food to displaced civilians in Kabati, about 20 miles north.
The rebel general Laurent Nkunda, which claims to fight to defend the Tutsi minority in eastern Congo - infected violence - declared a ceasefire late on Wednesday after advancing almost to the limits of Goma, pushing back government troops and put on the defensive the UN blue helmets.
Nkunda, who left in January a peace deal, has asked a neutral mediator to negotiate.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that the cease-fire went into effect, while envoys pressed the neighboring Congo and Rwanda to seek a definitive end to the enduring conflict on its borders.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will travel to Congo on Friday, said a French spokesman in Paris.
"The situation is catastrophic. There is no other word," said the spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Pierre-Emmanuel Ducruet in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. Building
calm the restive city of Goma and its surroundings after the powerful combat arose this week, many international humanitarian agencies resumed operations, distributing water and food to displaced civilians in Kabati, about 20 miles north.
The rebel general Laurent Nkunda, which claims to fight to defend the Tutsi minority in eastern Congo - infected violence - declared a ceasefire late on Wednesday after advancing almost to the limits of Goma, pushing back government troops and put on the defensive the UN blue helmets.
Nkunda, who left in January a peace deal, has asked a neutral mediator to negotiate.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that the cease-fire went into effect, while envoys pressed the neighboring Congo and Rwanda to seek a definitive end to the enduring conflict on its borders.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will travel to Congo on Friday, said a French spokesman in Paris.
