CAR: 8,000 Central Africans flee to southern Chad

More than 8,000 people have fled from the Central African Republic (CAR) into southern Chad over the past fortnight to escape a new outbreak of fighting in the northwest of the country, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday. The new arrivals joined 30,000 other CAR refugees who have been living in exile in southern Chad for almost three years, UNHCR official Bernard Ntwari told IRIN by telephone from N'Djamena. He said the latest exodus began following clashes between government troops and a rebel group that began on 3 June.