Congo massacre rates as 'worst' in civil war
[E.T. - I expect you to be rallying for the invasion of Congo every day on SI now, with at least as many posts as those you post on Iraq.]
iht.com
AP
Monday, April 7, 2003
Unidentified assailants kill 966, UN says
NAIROBI A preliminary investigation by the United Nations has found that at least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, UN officials said Sunday.
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The investigators also discovered some 20 mass graves and found that many of the victims were executed in attacks on Thursday, the worst single atrocity probed by the United Nations since the four-and-a-half-year civil war in Congo broke out, said Manodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the UN mission in Congo.
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It is not clear who carried out the attacks, which lasted for between five and eight hours in the Roman Catholic parish of Drodro and 14 surrounding villages in mineral-rich Ituri Province. But witnesses told the UN investigators that some attackers wore military uniforms while others were dressed in civilians clothes, Mounoubai said.
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"The attack started with a whistle blow and lasted between five and eight hours," Mounoubai said by telephone from Kinshasa, Congo's capital. "This is the worst single atrocity since the start of the civil war."
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UN military observers visited the areas Saturday where the killings took place and spoke to witnesses, survivors and local leaders, Mounoubai said.
.
Ituri has been beset by some of the most vicious fighting of the war as rival tribal fighters, rebel factions and Ugandan troops have fought over land and resources.
.
On Saturday, a Congolese rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga, accused Ugandan troops and allied Congolese tribal fighters of carrying out the slaughter.
.
Lubanga, who is head of the rebel Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, said Ugandan troops and Lendu tribal fighters used mortars, small arms and machetes to attack three towns in Ituri, killing 942 people.
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Captain Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan military spokesman, denied that any Ugandan troops were involved in the massacre. Kulayigye, who is based in Ituri, said Saturday that about 400 people were killed in tribal fighting.
.
An aid worker and a tribal leader in Bunia, however, said Ugandan forces were in the area when civilians were killed. They could not say whether the troops took part.
.
Witnesses told the investigators that some of the assailants were speaking Kilendu, the Lendus' tribal language, while others spoke Kiswahili, the lingua franca in eastern Congo, Mounoubai said. Most Ugandan soldiers also speak Kiswahili.
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The UPC and Ugandan troops have been fighting since Ugandan forces drove the rebels from Bunia, the main town in the province, four weeks ago.
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The latest war in Congo broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust Laurent Kabila, who was then president. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent troops to back Kabila, splitting the country into rebel- and government-held areas.
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Most foreign troops withdrew after a series of peace deals took hold, but fighting among rival rebel factions, tribal fighters and Ugandan troops has continued in eastern and northeastern Congo.
< < Back to Start of Article Unidentified assailants kill 966, UN says
NAIROBI A preliminary investigation by the United Nations has found that at least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, UN officials said Sunday.
.
The investigators also discovered some 20 mass graves and found that many of the victims were executed in attacks on Thursday, the worst single atrocity probed by the United Nations since the four-and-a-half-year civil war in Congo broke out, said Manodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the UN mission in Congo.
.
It is not clear who carried out the attacks, which lasted for between five and eight hours in the Roman Catholic parish of Drodro and 14 surrounding villages in mineral-rich Ituri Province. But witnesses told the UN investigators that some attackers wore military uniforms while others were dressed in civilians clothes, Mounoubai said.
.
"The attack started with a whistle blow and lasted between five and eight hours," Mounoubai said by telephone from Kinshasa, Congo's capital. "This is the worst single atrocity since the start of the civil war."
.
UN military observers visited the areas Saturday where the killings took place and spoke to witnesses, survivors and local leaders, Mounoubai said.
.
Ituri has been beset by some of the most vicious fighting of the war as rival tribal fighters, rebel factions and Ugandan troops have fought over land and resources.
.
On Saturday, a Congolese rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga, accused Ugandan troops and allied Congolese tribal fighters of carrying out the slaughter.
.
Lubanga, who is head of the rebel Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, said Ugandan troops and Lendu tribal fighters used mortars, small arms and machetes to attack three towns in Ituri, killing 942 people.
.
Captain Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan military spokesman, denied that any Ugandan troops were involved in the massacre. Kulayigye, who is based in Ituri, said Saturday that about 400 people were killed in tribal fighting.
.
An aid worker and a tribal leader in Bunia, however, said Ugandan forces were in the area when civilians were killed. They could not say whether the troops took part.
.
Witnesses told the investigators that some of the assailants were speaking Kilendu, the Lendus' tribal language, while others spoke Kiswahili, the lingua franca in eastern Congo, Mounoubai said. Most Ugandan soldiers also speak Kiswahili.
.
The UPC and Ugandan troops have been fighting since Ugandan forces drove the rebels from Bunia, the main town in the province, four weeks ago.
.
The latest war in Congo broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust Laurent Kabila, who was then president. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent troops to back Kabila, splitting the country into rebel- and government-held areas.
.
Most foreign troops withdrew after a series of peace deals took hold, but fighting among rival rebel factions, tribal fighters and Ugandan troops has continued in eastern and northeastern Congo. Unidentified assailants kill 966, UN says
NAIROBI A preliminary investigation by the United Nations has found that at least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, UN officials said Sunday.
.
The investigators also discovered some 20 mass graves and found that many of the victims were executed in attacks on Thursday, the worst single atrocity probed by the United Nations since the four-and-a-half-year civil war in Congo broke out, said Manodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the UN mission in Congo.
.
It is not clear who carried out the attacks, which lasted for between five and eight hours in the Roman Catholic parish of Drodro and 14 surrounding villages in mineral-rich Ituri Province. But witnesses told the UN investigators that some attackers wore military uniforms while others were dressed in civilians clothes, Mounoubai said.
.
"The attack started with a whistle blow and lasted between five and eight hours," Mounoubai said by telephone from Kinshasa, Congo's capital. "This is the worst single atrocity since the start of the civil war."
.
UN military observers visited the areas Saturday where the killings took place and spoke to witnesses, survivors and local leaders, Mounoubai said.
.
Ituri has been beset by some of the most vicious fighting of the war as rival tribal fighters, rebel factions and Ugandan troops have fought over land and resources.
.
On Saturday, a Congolese rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga, accused Ugandan troops and allied Congolese tribal fighters of carrying out the slaughter.
.
Lubanga, who is head of the rebel Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, said Ugandan troops and Lendu tribal fighters used mortars, small arms and machetes to attack three towns in Ituri, killing 942 people.
.
Captain Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan military spokesman, denied that any Ugandan troops were involved in the massacre. Kulayigye, who is based in Ituri, said Saturday that about 400 people were killed in tribal fighting.
.
An aid worker and a tribal leader in Bunia, however, said Ugandan forces were in the area when civilians were killed. They could not say whether the troops took part.
.
Witnesses told the investigators that some of the assailants were speaking Kilendu, the Lendus' tribal language, while others spoke Kiswahili, the lingua franca in eastern Congo, Mounoubai said. Most Ugandan soldiers also speak Kiswahili.
.
The UPC and Ugandan troops have been fighting since Ugandan forces drove the rebels from Bunia, the main town in the province, four weeks ago.
.
The latest war in Congo broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust Laurent Kabila, who was then president. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent troops to back Kabila, splitting the country into rebel- and government-held areas.
.
Most foreign troops withdrew after a series of peace deals took hold, but fighting among rival rebel factions, tribal fighters and Ugandan troops has continued in eastern and northeastern Congo. Unidentified assailants kill 966, UN says
NAIROBI A preliminary investigation by the United Nations has found that at least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, UN officials said Sunday.
.
The investigators also discovered some 20 mass graves and found that many of the victims were executed in attacks on Thursday, the worst single atrocity probed by the United Nations since the four-and-a-half-year civil war in Congo broke out, said Manodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the UN mission in Congo.
.
It is not clear who carried out the attacks, which lasted for between five and eight hours in the Roman Catholic parish of Drodro and 14 surrounding villages in mineral-rich Ituri Province. But witnesses told the UN investigators that some attackers wore military uniforms while others were dressed in civilians clothes, Mounoubai said.
.
"The attack started with a whistle blow and lasted between five and eight hours," Mounoubai said by telephone from Kinshasa, Congo's capital. "This is the worst single atrocity since the start of the civil war."
.
UN military observers visited the areas Saturday where the killings took place and spoke to witnesses, survivors and local leaders, Mounoubai said.
.
Ituri has been beset by some of the most vicious fighting of the war as rival tribal fighters, rebel factions and Ugandan troops have fought over land and resources.
.
On Saturday, a Congolese rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga, accused Ugandan troops and allied Congolese tribal fighters of carrying out the slaughter.
.
Lubanga, who is head of the rebel Union of Congolese Patriots, or UPC, said Ugandan troops and Lendu tribal fighters used mortars, small arms and machetes to attack three towns in Ituri, killing 942 people.
.
Captain Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan military spokesman, denied that any Ugandan troops were involved in the massacre. Kulayigye, who is based in Ituri, said Saturday that about 400 people were killed in tribal fighting.
.
An aid worker and a tribal leader in Bunia, however, said Ugandan forces were in the area when civilians were killed. They could not say whether the troops took part.
.
Witnesses told the investigators that some of the assailants were speaking Kilendu, the Lendus' tribal language, while others spoke Kiswahili, the lingua franca in eastern Congo, Mounoubai said. Most Ugandan soldiers also speak Kiswahili.
.
The UPC and Ugandan troops have been fighting since Ugandan forces drove the rebels from Bunia, the main town in the province, four weeks ago.
.
The latest war in Congo broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust Laurent Kabila, who was then president. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent troops to back Kabila, splitting the country into rebel- and government-held areas.
.
Most foreign troops withdrew after a series of peace deals took hold, but fighting among rival rebel factions, tribal fighters and Ugandan troops has continued in eastern and northeastern Congo. |
