UP TO a quarter of a million Hutu refugees from Rwanda and Burundi were on the move in eastern Zaire again yesterday, fleeing fighting between Zairean soldiers and ethnic Tutsis, humanitarian sources said.
The exodus coincided with reports from the UN refugee agency in Geneva and humanitarian sources in the region that fighting had spread from South Kivu near the border with Burundi to North Kivu and the region of Goma bordering Rwanda.
There was no reliable casualty toll apart from 28 civilians reported killed near Uvira on Friday and a Zairean soldier reported killed near Goma on Sunday. But with Zaire reinforcing and resupplying its troops in the eastern refugee zone, the UN under, secretary general, Mr lbrahima Fall, held urgent talks in the South Kivu regional capital of Bukavu in an attempt to calm passions and defuse tension.
"I will report to the secretary general so that he can inform the Security Council," said Mr Fall who arrived on Sunday. "I am sure that the Security Council will take up its responsibilities.
Mr Fall met South Kivu's governor and local and tribal leaders.
Fighting between Banyamulenge Tutsis who came to Zaire late in the 18th century - and troops follows Banyamulenge accusations that indigenous Zaireans are trying to force them out. It has fuelled fears that the Tutsi and Hutu hatred and rivalry could engulf the whole Central African Great Lakes region.
Zaire, host to over a million Hutus who fled Rwanda and Burundi fearing reprisals from Tutsi dominated armies, accuses Rwanda of sending Banyamulenge to destabilise the refugee zone. Rwanda's Tutsi dominated government says Hutu hardliners use Zaire as a base for attacks on Rwandan territory.
Mr Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Rwanda, said in Kigali that some 221,000 refugees were on the move from the Uvira area towards Bukavu. There is continuing fighting around Bwegera, midway between Uvira and Bukavu, he added.
The Rwandan army on Monday denied reports from relief agency sources that unidentified fighters crossed from Rwanda overnight and attacked army positions in east Zaire.