CONGOLESE SOLDIERS CHASED THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS FROM A CAMP WHERE THEY WERE SHELTERING FROM CLASHES BETWEEN THE ARMY AND MILITIAS IN CONGO'S LAWLESS NORTHEASTERN ITURI DISTRICT, THE UNITED NATIONS SAID ON THURSDAY, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. SUSPECTING MILITIA FIGHTERS WERE IN THE CAMP, THE ARMY TOLD SOME 4,500 CIVILIANS LIVING IN TCHOMIA THAT THEY HAD TO LEAVE OR WOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A LEGITIMATE TARGET, SOURCES ADDED. FIGHTING IN ITURI HAS KILLED 60,000 PEOPLE SINCE 1999 AND GOVERNMENT FORCES ARE INCREASINGLY ACCUSED OF ABUSES. VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN THE MINERAL-RICH EAST DESPITE PEACE DEALS TO END A DECADE OF WARS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AND PAVE THE WAY FOR ELECTIONS DUE ON JULY 30. "GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS WENT TO THE CAMP EARLY THIS MORNING AND THEY TOLD THE CIVILIANS THEY HAD TO LEAVE," SAID MODIBO TRAORE, HEAD OF THE U.N. OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA) IN ITURI. "THE SOLDIERS SAID THEY HAD TO EMPTY THE CAMP BECAUSE THERE WERE MILITIA IN THERE," HE TOLD REUTERS BY PHONE. "THERE ARE NOW ABOUT 4,500 PEOPLE WHO HAVE FLED AND ARE LIVING WITHOUT ASSISTANCE." AID WORKERS ESTIMATE THAT ABOUT 200,000 CIVILIANS HAVE BEEN DISPLACED BY FIGHTING IN ITURI BUT THEY HAVE LITTLE ACCESS TO THOSE IN NEED DUE TO FIGHTING AND THREATS BY THE MILITIAS AND THE ARMY. CONGOLESE ARMY OFFICERS CONTACTED IN BUNIA, ITURI'S MAIN TOWN, SAID THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN TCHOMIA, WHICH LIES ON THE SHORES OF LAKE ALBERT, 50 KM (30 MILES) TO THE EAST. BUT THE U.N. PEACEKEEPING MISSION SAID THEY HAD RECEIVED REPORTS OF THE INCIDENT AND WERE SENDING SOLDIERS TO INVESTIGATE. LOCAL SOURCES SAID NO SHOTS WERE FIRED BUT THE MESSAGE WAS CLEAR. "THE ARMY TOLD THE DISPLACED THAT ANYONE WHO DID NOT LEAVE WOULD BE CONSIDERED AS MILITIA AND A LEGITIMATE TARGET," A LOCAL SOURCE TOLD REUTERS.
