The UN has despatched a convoy carrying specialist aid deliveries across the frontline in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The teams will assess the needs of people displaced by fighting. Our correspondent Peter Greste is travelling with them:

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The UN is expected to pass through the lines relatively unhindered. The UN had spent days negotiating security guarantees from both sides, though the presence of heavily armed peacekeepers in armoured vehicles front and rear might also help.

The cars are carrying medical supplies for the hospital in Rutshuru, the convoy's main destination, and teams of technical experts whose main job is to find people who've been sheltering in camps that are now empty. The aid will have to come later - that is, of course, provided the five-day-old ceasefire continues to hold, and that depends on the success of European and African diplomatic initiatives. Late on Sunday there were reports of clashes, the first hint that the current calm may not necessarily last.

Peter Greste, BBC News, Goma

Listen to the words

choked with
full of, crowded with

people thin to a trickle
there are a lot fewer people

No man's land
the area of land between two opposing armies that isn't held by either side

relatively unhindered
with few difficulties and/or obstacles, compared to what it could be like

armoured
protected by strong covering

destination
the place where someone is supposed to arrive

sheltering
protecting themselves, finding cover (e.g. from the rain)

provided
if, on condition that, as long as

the first hint
the first suggestion/indication

the current calm
here, the ceasefire that is now in force

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