Soliders stand on guard in the Lubero territory of the eastern province of North Kivu Democratic Republic of th

More than 230,000 people have fled surging violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of the year, the United Nations said Friday, labelling it one of the world's "most alarming" humanitarian crises.

The Congolese army says several towns that fell to armed groups in the eastern North Kivu and South Kivu provinces have been recaptured by government forces.

In recent days, the Masisi territory of North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been the scene of major clashes between the armed group M23/AFC and the Congolese army, backed by allied elements. These clashes have led to large movements of people in the area - some 102,000 people in less than a week, according to OCHA.

More than 230,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the year amid escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the United Nations. The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday described the displacement as “the most alarming” humanitarian crisis in the world.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed by the worsening violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has already displaced 237,000 people this year. Escalating clashes between non-state armed groups and the Congolese army in North and South Kivu provinces are intensifying one of the world’s most alarming yet under-reported humanitarian crises,

( MENAFN - IANS) Kinshasa, Jan 17 (IANS) About 237,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of 2025 in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the world's largest hosts of people uprooted within their own borders, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.

Rebel group M23 have captured two more towns in North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources say, after fierce fighting on Saturday afternoon. Masisi-Centre and Lushebere in northeast Kivu came under rebel control after the Congolese army made a “strategic withdrawal to avoid collateral damage among civilians.”

North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been riven by fighting between the Congolese army and rebels from the M23 movement since early December 2024. People living in this restive province have been forced to flee – or become trapped in the midst of increasingly violent clashes.

A new United Nations report has found that more than 100,000 people have been displaced since the start of the year in eastern Congo as a result of a new rebel offensive.

Dozens more people have been injured and many displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent clashes between the Congolese army and M23 fighters, local sources and NGOs told AFP Wednesday.

KINSHASA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- About 237,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of 2025 in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the world's largest hosts of people uprooted within their own borders, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.