Geneva  - At least 134 children were separated from their parents during the recent outbreak of violence in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Tuesday.

So far, 15 children have been reunited with their families, in the one week since the international aid agency started a reunification programme.

The ICRC said it was working with the local Congolese Red Cross to register the children and find their families.

An official with the Red Cross said many children were left behind in the panic caused by the fighting between rebels and government forces, and assumed the actual number of separated youngsters was higher.

Some 250,000 are said to have been displaced by the violence.

The programme uses radio advertisements, announcing the list of lost children as well posters which show their pictures.

The posters were being hung in refugee camps, clinics, schools and other public places. (dpa)