According to initial results, M23 rebels killed about 131 civilians in the eastern DRC between 29 and 30 November, the country’s UN mission said.
Authorities in Kinshasa said about 300 civilians, nearly all civilians, were massacred in his M23 attack in the town of Kishishe in the eastern North Kivu area.
Furthermore, 102 men, 17 women and 12 children were executed “arbitrarily” by bullets or other weapons, the UN mission MONUSCO said in a late-night statement that the victims had been killed “as part of retribution against civilians”.
“Eight people were injured by bullets and 60 were kidnapped. At least 22 women and five girls were raped.”
“The violence was carried out as part of a campaign of killings, rapes, kidnappings and looting against two villages within Rutshuru territory in retaliation for clashes between M23 and other armed groups,” the statement said.
The UN findings focused on the neighbouring villages of Kishishe and Bambo. Security concerns prevented investigators from going to the village, but interviewed 52 victims and witnesses in the town of rwindi, 20 kilometres away.
The resource-rich areas of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have been restless for years, with large numbers of militias operating in the area.
the M23, mainly Congolese Tutsi groups, will resume fighting in late 2021 after lying dormant for years, claiming the DRC broke promises to integrate its fighters into its forces. Did. Its reappearance has sparked a crisis in the eastern DRC, leading to growing tensions with neighbouring Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of supporting the group.