UN Says Over 11 Million Displaced In East and Central Africa

The number of displaced people in East and Central Africa has now topped 11 million, the UN has announced. According to the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), most of these people were displaced by conflict and natural disaster. A recent rise in these numbers has been attributed to ongoing fighting in Somalia and attacks by Uganda’s rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Out of the 16 countries in the region, Sudan has the largest displaced population at over 4 million, followed by Somalia and the DRC, which have more than 1.3 million displaced people each. [PE]