KAMPALA, Uganda -- Ugandan officials are calling for an emergency meeting in Ethiopia to discuss how to end violence in Congo.
The Wednesday meeting is to convene one day after Ugandan Disaster Preparedness Minister Musa Ecweru said that more than 16,000 Congolese have sought refuge in Uganda. The refugees are fleeing violence that has recently intensified as government forces try to subdue mutinous rebels in Congo's east.
Ecweru said the influx of refugees had left Uganda "overstretched," and he called for international help to feed them.
The 16,000 includes 648 Congolese troops who last week fled into Uganda after losing battles with rebels allied with fugitive Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes. Ecweru said 24 of the Congolese soldiers had "very serious cases of bullet wounds."
