Geneva:
Widespread violence has forced more than 71,000 people to flee their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga region in the past three months alone, the United Nations warned on Tuesday.
The UN refugee agency said it was "deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Katanga".
Rampant violence in the mineral-rich southern region has uprooted about 400,000 people since 2012, and brought the total number of people internally displaced to nearly 600,000, UNHCR said.
In October alone, the agency said it had registered 1,737 "incidents" in the territories of Kalemie and the so-called "triangle of death" comprising Manono, Mitwaba and Pweto in northern Katanga.
The violence is mainly attributed to the Mai Mai rebel group which is fighting for a better distribution between the north and south of the wealth from the province's immense natural resources.
"The looting and burning of houses, extortion, torture, forced labour and recruitment into armed groups, as well as sexual violence" were among the violations, spokeswoman Karin de Gruijl told reporters in Geneva.
During the first 10 months of the year, the agency had registered 15,873 such incidents nearly all of them in those four territories, she said.
"However, we fear that this number of incidents could be significantly higher as insecurity and logistical challenges prevent our protection monitors from going to some areas."
In particular, sexual violence was believed to be under-reported, De Gruijl added.
People internally displaced within the region are spread across 28 special sites and within communities, she said.
UNHCR had built about 1,500 emergency shelters since January, she said, but added: "Clearly more is needed, including access to health care, potable water, food and education."
She said residents at the Mukondo IDP site, which hosts 1,300 people, reported that 19 young children had died since they arrived there in March, mainly due to diarrhoea, anaemia and malaria.
During the same period, nine women had died during childbirth, De Gruijl said.
The UNHCR called for Congolese civil authorities and the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO to boost their presence in the region.
Katanga is rich in cobalt, copper and gold and a host of other metals and minerals.