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CONGO: At least 10,000 flee fighting in Brazzaville

NAIROBI, 17 June (IRIN) - At least 10,000 people have fled Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, following two days of fighting between government forces and Ninja militias that began on Friday, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office in the country reported.

On Friday, it said, Brazzaville endured two sustained military attacks in the northeastern outskirts of the town. The first was against the military based near the international airport at Maya Maya, and the second targeted a police school and a station of the gendarmerie in the neighbourhood of Moukondo. Hundreds of rounds of rockets, mortars, and heavy-calibre machine-gun fire were directed on both areas, the UN reported. The Ninja tried repeatedly, in vain, to destroy the government military helicopters at the airport.

On Saturday, the sound of artillery fire, rockets and mortars reverberated around the hills surrounding Brazzaville as government forces attempted to "widen the safety zone" around the capital, Bill Paton, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Brazzaville, told IRIN. At least 10 attackers and three civilians were confirmed dead, he said.

Government operations were continuing in areas surrounding the capital on Monday.

[ENDS]

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