966 Congolese Killed in Attacks on Villagers

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 07, 2003

966 Congolese Killed in Attacks on Villagers

At least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, United Nations officials said Saturday after a preliminary investigation.

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At least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, United Nations officials said Saturday after a preliminary investigation.

It is not clear who carried out the attacks, which occurred in Ituri Province, the scene of some of the worst battles in Congo's 4 1/2-year civil war. Rival fighters, rebel factions and Ugandan troops all have been involved in the fighting in the mineral-rich province.

Witnesses told the United Nations investigators that the attackers included women and children, while others were men in military uniforms, said Manodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the United Nations mission in Congo. "This is the worst single atrocity since the start of the civil war," he said.

Officials said the killing occurred over a period of just a few hours on Thursday in the Roman Catholic parish of Drodro and 14 surrounding villages. "The attack started with a whistle blow and lasted between five and eight hours," Mr. Mounoubai said.

United Nations military observers visited the area on Saturday and spoke to witnesses, survivors and local leaders who led them to 20 mass graves, he said.

On Saturday, a Congolese rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga, accused Ugandan troops and fighters from an allied Congolese ethnic group, the Lendu, of carrying out the killings.

A Ugandan military spokesman, Capt. Felix Kulayigye, denied that any Ugandan troops were involved. He said 400 people had been killed in ethnic fighting.

An aid worker and a local leader in Bunia said that Ugandan forces were in the area when civilians were killed, but that they could not say whether the troops took part.

The rebel group draws its support from the Hema, who have traditionally fought with the Lendu for control of land and other resources.

Source: Agencies

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