The United Nations says more than 3,000 people have fled from attacks by the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Haute-Kotto of Central African Republic, which is a province near the border with Sudan and South Sudan.

According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), LRA fighters have abducted civilians and looted villages, though the aid group did not name the affected villages specifically. 

“Increasing attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) gunmen in recent weeks have triggered population displacements in the south-eastern Haute-Kotto province,” reads a February update from OCHA.

“More than 3,000 people have fled their villages in the wake of raids, abductions and looting by LRA elements. Aid organizations are working to provide assistance and have called for improved security in the region,” it adds.

This comes amid general food insecurity in Central African Republic, where many farmers had to abandon their land or were unable to tend their fields in 2015.