10,000 refugees flee Congo

As many as 10,000 Congolese refugees have crossed the border into Uganda in the past two days, fleeing violence in their villages, local government officials said today.

Some of the refugees said they fled after a demonstration by local people protesting the failure of UN peacekeepers to improve security in their remote south-eastern Congolese territory.

Refugees told of villagers hurling rocks at UN troops and some said they feared that the situation would further deteriorate, said David Masereka, the district commissioner of Kisoro, which sits along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.