UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is working with other stakeholders in support of diplomatic and political means to address deadly violence in the country's east, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.

Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the mission, known as MONUSCO, "continues to work closely with all relevant stakeholders in support of diplomatic and political means to address the situation in the eastern region of the country."

Haq was referring to a hoped-for peace dialogue in Nairobi between the DRC government and Congolese armed groups attacking villagers in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

The East African Community recently dispatched armed forces from Kenya to protect civilians in the eastern DRC.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday in its Situation Report on the DRC that the renewed fighting between government troops and the M23 militia clashes in North Kivu Province's Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories displaced more than 300,000 people between Oct. 20 and Nov. 21.

The office said the conflict and the people it displaces exacerbate food insecurity across the country, with approximately 26 million people expected to face acute food insecurity through December.