Armed clashes around the Plaine Savo displacement site in Ituri Province, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are putting tens of thousands of displaced people at risk and have forced aid services to be suspended, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.

Source: UN OCHA via APO

At least three displaced people have reportedly been killed and five others injured since Tuesday, OCHA said, and fighting near the site on Friday trapped families inside, heightening concerns for their safety. The casualty figures are OCHA's reported figures and have not been independently confirmed on the ground.

Access constraints have forced the suspension of water-trucking activities, as well as health and nutrition services, for some 76,000 people who depend on assistance at the Plaine Savo site, OCHA said. Communities also reported that agricultural fields around the site have been damaged by the fighting, further eroding livelihoods.

Ebola response also at risk

OCHA said it was especially concerned about the impact of the insecurity on the response to Ebola. Three Ebola cases were confirmed at the site in mid-September, and continued access restrictions could undermine disease surveillance, contact tracing and community engagement, it said.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which works at the site, has separately documented that about 76,000 people are living at Plaine Savo, unable to leave because of violence outside the camp, and that the three confirmed Ebola cases found there were referred early for treatment at Fataki hospital.

Source: MSF

Ituri has faced years of armed violence alongside the Ebola outbreak declared in May, and aid agencies say every day that water, health and nutrition services stay suspended deepens the risk for families who have already fled their homes once.