Almost half a million people are fleeing fighting between government troops and rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The UN Human Rights Commissioner (UNHCR) reported in Geneva on Friday that the situation was deteriorating in North Kivu Province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda and has long been in crisis.

Government forces seek to assert control over the region, which is rich in resources.

The UNHCR put the numbers fleeing the fighting at 450,000 and said at least 200,000 of the internally displaced people had been cut off from humanitarian aid.

It said human rights violations in the region, including the rape of women and girls, had risen since October.

Tens of thousands of people were reported to have converged on Sake, a town on Lake Kivu some 35 kilometres from the provincial capital of Goma.

Meanwhile, the presidential elections in Africa’s second-largest country by area are set for December 20.

However, observers have repeatedly warned that holding the poll in contested regions will be difficult or barely possible. 

(dpa/NAN)