Government officials in Angola say they're mobilizing troops to send to Congo, a country one aid worker is calling "the worst place" in the world to be a woman or child.
The mobilization is raising fears that violence in that country would spread through the region.
Angolan Deputy Foreign Minister Georges Chicoty said the troops will support the Congo government in its fight against rebels led by a former Tutsi general. Congo had asked Angola for political and military assistance last month.
However, there are concerns that neighbouring Rwanda may see the presence of Angolan troops, which will not act as a peacekeeping force, as a provocation.
There are also worries that tensions between Tutsis and Hutus -- who escaped to the Congo from Rwanda during an ethnic genocide in the 1990s -- will increase. The current conflict is fuelled by concerns by Tutsi leaders in Congo that they'll be targeted by Hutus who participated in the genocide and then fled to the country.
Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said 3,000 more UN peacekeeping soldiers were needed in Congo to bolster a 17,000-member UN force.
Ban also called for a ceasefire so aid workers could get help to at "at least 100,000 refugees" cut off in rebel-controlled areas.
"The conditions in (the refugee camps) are as bad as I have seen them anywhere in Africa," World Vision spokesperson Kevin Cook told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday morning.
Displaced people are in urgent need of water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition and other supplies and protection from escalating violence."
Cook said aid workers are also concerned about the spread of diseases such as malaria, cholera, measles and diarrhea. He also noted that he is not sure how long relief workers would be able to stay in the country if the situation worsens.
UN officials have noted that both sides in the dispute have committed crimes against civilians, including rapes.
"This is probably the worst place in the world to be a woman or a child," Cook said.
