More than 800 children have lost contact with their families in the wake of fierce fighting between government troops and rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a Red Cross official said Saturday.

The renewed violence over the past few months has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in the Rutshuru area of DR Congo near the border with Uganda.

At least 158,000 people have been forced from their homes since March in Rutshuru and the neighboring Nyiragongo area because of the conflict, the UN said.

(With input from AFP)