UN bracing for surge in displaced people in Mali

GENEVA (AFP) Ñ Some 700,000 more Malians could be driven from their homes by the new wave of fighting in the restive country in the coming months, the UN refugee agency said Friday.

“We believe that in the near future there could be up to 300,000 people additionally displaced inside Mali, and over 400,000 additionally displaced in the neighbouring countries,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.

Those numbers add to the 229,000 people already displaced inside Mali and 147,000 refugees in neighboring nations, she said.

France launched an assault on January 11 to help the Malian army stop the advance of Islamist rebels who had been occupying northern Mali since April.

Since then, the numbers of displaced people have been rising steadily, Fleming said, adding the agency was reinforcing its staff in the region.