Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have pushed rebels back 5km (three miles) at the front line north of the eastern city of Goma.
The BBC's Mark Doyle says the two sides are now separated by a dormant lava field created by a nearby volcano.
In Goma, hundreds of women have protested to demand protection from rape and peace in the region.
The UN says it is to move 60,000 people from a camp north of Goma to a location west of the city in case of fighting.
The people at Kibati camp, close to the front line separating government troops and rebels loyal to Gen Laurent Nkunda, are among 250,000 who have fled the violence which flared in August.
"Women are tired of this war. We are just the victims"
The UN refugee agency said aid workers have plotted out the new site - called Mugunga III - and most people will have to make the 15km journey there by foot.
Fighting has stopped aid from reaching Kibati and forced many there to flee south to the provincial capital, Goma.
Our correspondent says the front line is now just beyond two strategic hills, on top of which government forces have placed spotters and artillery.
The distance between the nearest opposing troops is just a few hundred metres, he says.
On the rebel side of the line he saw rebel soldiers consolidating their own, high, ground - more hills from which they could target the government forces on the road below.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in DR Congo wants the two sides to move further apart to minimise the possibility of accidental clashes which could exacerbate the already disastrous humanitarian situation.
FORCES AROUND GOMAThere have been reports - all denied - that troops from Rwanda, Angola and Zimbabwe are in DR Congo, fighting on opposing sides, as they did in the conflict which officially ended in 2003.
UN troops have reinforced their positions in Goma and say they will prevent the rebels from taking the city, as they have threatened.
Looting
On Thursday, Gen Nkunda's rebels - who are demanding protection from Rwandan Hutu rebels who fled to DR Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide - told AFP they had advanced to the outskirts of the strategic town of Kanyabayonga, 100km (60 miles) north of Goma.
Government forces were accused of looting and raping civilians there earlier in the week.
The UN has accused both sides of war crimes during the latest upsurge in violence.
On Friday, women, some dressed with black bin liners covering their hair, gathered at a sports stadium in Goma housing thousands of people who have fled the fighting.
They held up signs saying: "We mourn our children killed in Rutshuru" and "Enough of camp life".
"Women are tired of this war. We are just the victims. All people involved in this war are raping," one demonstrator, Solange Nyamulisa, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
A spokesman for the charity ActionAid told the BBC cases of rape and violence against women have risen dramatically since the latest fighting broke out.
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