( CNN ) -- Tens of thousands of Congolese refugees fled camps Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo as rebel troops attacked government forces in the area , the U.N. refugee agency said . Refugees move along a road Tuesday in Mugunga , near Goma , in the Democratic Republic of Congo . A press release from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it did n't appear rebels had targeted the camps , but it reported some were looted after camp residents , classified as internally displaced persons , fled . Roads to Goma , about 10 miles from the camps , were crowded with refugees and local residents fleeing the fighting , the UNHCR reported . Torrential rain made the movement even more difficult . `` The main road toward Sake was crowded with people ; we had difficulties getting through , '' UNHCR field safety adviser Pierre Nazroo was quoted as saying in the agency 's release . `` Internally displaced people are moving from site to site , direction Goma . '' UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said , `` They have been living in extremely difficult conditions anyway . Now they have nothing but what they can carry . '' Redmond added , `` These are people in poor health ; they are soaking wet because of the torrential downpours . They need shelter , they need water , they need a lot of assistance so we 're going to have to move quickly to get that help to them because a lot of them are already in a weakened state . '' While the Congolese government accused troops under rebel general Laurent Nkunda of staging the attack , a Nkunda spokesman denied the allegation , according to a report from the Integrated Regional Information Networks , a U.N.-affiliated news service . The spokesman , Bwambale Kakolele , said Rwandan Hutu rebels who also operate in the area were behind the attack , that report said . A spokesman for the U.N. military mission in the Congo said it was uncertain which group attacked the Congo army outpost near the village of Kishangazi , according to the U.N.-affiliated news service . `` We think it could have been insurgents close to Nkunda who attacked , but we can not rule out the [ Rwandan rebels ] , '' spokesman Col. Pierre Cherayron was quoted as saying . The UNHCR identified the affected camps as Mugunga I , Mugunga II , Lac Vert and Bulengo , saying about 28,000 had abandoned the first three camps and about 2,000 had left Bulengo . The UNHCR said 375,000 Congolese in North Kivu province have been forced from their homes in the past year . In the past two months alone , 160,000 have fled their homes amid the fighting between renegade troops and government forces , the agency said . North Kivu is in eastern Congo near the borders of Rwanda and Uganda . Congolese President Joseph Kabila has tried to gain a cease-fire with the rebels in the area under Nkunda , but fighting continues as hard-liners among the rebels and in the government have blocked reconciliation efforts , according to the International Crisis Group , an nongovernmental organization looking for solutions to conflicts . E-mail to a friend .
NEW : Congo rebels blame Rwandan Hutus for attack , report missing . Internally , Congolese flee as they attack government troops . Torrential rain makes refugee movement difficult . U.N. refugee agency : Some 375,000 have been displaced from Rwanda in past year .