Thousands of people who fled a 24 November rebel attack in the northeastern Central African Republic (CAR) town of Birao, Vakaga Province, urgently need humanitarian assistance, says a UN official. 'The whole population, about 8,000, stayed a week in the bush, with no access to drinkable water, no protection from mosquitoes...' said Jean-Sébastien Munie, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the CAR.