Thousands spent the night in the open, their mothers trying vainly to shield them from the chilly rain with cotton cloth or plastic sheets torn from sacks. Many are so weak and malnourished they have no protection against disease.
The U.N. humanitarian agency said Sunday that the violence has forced 250,000 people from their homes since rebels began their offensive in late August, swelling a refugee population that already stood at 1 million. More than 60 percent of the refugees are children, according to UNICEF.
Aid groups say that children are being disproportionately hit by a crisis that could expand into a full-blown humanitarian disaster if assistance is not widely distributed soon.
