Over 11 million displaced in Central, East Africa: U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The number of people displaced by conflict and natural disaster in Central and East Africa is now more than 11 million, the United Nations said on Monday.

The numbers have grown recently due to attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel fighters, and by ongoing hostilities in Somalia, the U.N.'s office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said.

The figure of 11 million totals the number of refugees and internally displaced people across 16 countries in Central and East Africa.

Sudan accounts for the largest proportion, with over 4 million displaced, while the DRC and Somalia both have more than 1.3 million displaced people each, the U.N. said.

Other countries with displaced people include Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

The countries hosting the largest numbers of refugees in the region are Chad, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania, OCHA said. Each country hosted more than 250,000 refugees at the end of March, it said.

Displacement in the region has been triggered mainly by inter-state conflicts and to a lesser extent, by natural disasters such as floods and droughts, the U.N. said.

(Editing by Sandra Maler)