The United Nations has said that fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has uprooted almost 90,000 civilians from their homes in the east of the country.

A U. N. release said on Friday that clashes between the national army and the Ugandan rebel group known as the Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda have killed at least six civilians and wounded dozens of others.

The rebel ADF started carrying out attacks inside Uganda from strongholds in the west of that country and bases in neighboring DRC in 1996, but the region has been mostly quiet since 2004 following a major offensive by the Ugandan army against it.

The U. N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, "Since the start of the military operations, new cases of killing and other human rights abuses have been registered in the affected areas."

The majority of the internally displaced persons are staying with host families, while some are seeking refuge in schools and churches.

The U. N. release further said that access to the affected areas for humanitarian efforts is difficult because of the high level of insecurity in the area. (With Inputs from Agencies)