United Nations say rebels killed at least 131 in horrific Congo killings

By Nathan Morley

An attack on villagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week is understood to have left at least 131 civilians dead.

Until now, there had been widespread speculation about what happened in the hamlets of Kishishe and Bambo during late November.

Now, a report from the United Nations claims the massacre in the two villages appeared to be a reprisal for a current government assault on the rebels.

Like the UN, the government blames the massacre on the M23 rebel group, which rejected responsibility, calling the allegations baseless.

In the report, the UN's said 102 men, 17 women and 12 children were arbitrarily executed by M23 ‘as part of reprisals against the civilian population’.

Earlier, government officials said 272 civilians had been killed in the massacre, raising the fatality figure from an earlier estimate of 50. They now accept that the figure could be lower.

An investigation has already been opened by the attorney general into the atrocity in which children were killed in a church and a hospital.

The Congolese army and the M23 — a Tutsi rebel group — have been fighting for months and the alleged attack will likely shatter a shaky ceasefire agreement in the region reached in November.