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Rwandan rebels suspected in Congo massacre
The killings of 29 villagers in the volatile region have been called the worst outbreak of violence there in nearly two years.
Rebels connected to 1994's Rwandan genocide are suspected in brutal killings of villagers in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, signaling possible retaliation against a crackdown by UN and Congolese forces.
The Associated Press reports that 29 people are confirmed dead in a weekend massacre in the volatile South-Kivu region of eastern Congo. Assailants armed with machetes, hammers, and sticks targeted three villages near the towns of Walungu, but their motive for the attacks was unclear, the AP reports.
"The paranoia that this killing spree has instilled in the local population is causing many to flee the area," said [UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs spokesman Samuel] Zungrana.
[Monday], a platoon of U.N. peacekeepers arrived in Walungu, about 1,100 miles east of Kinshasa, the Congolese capital. They found letters left by the attackers identifying them as Rwandan militia, who have been operating on Congolese soil since being pushed out of their country following the genocide in 1994, said Maj. Gabriel de Brosses, the spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo.
The AP also reports that villagers said that 12 people were abducted in the ambush, but aid workers were unsure if the bodies of 12 people found nearby were those of the hostages.
Agence France-Presse writes that the attacks were a reprisal for an April crackdown by UN and Congolese forces against Hutu militia, which included the destruction of a rebel camp. UN forces that were patrolling the area over the weekend reportedly found leaflets proclaiming revenge for the offensive in two of the villages, promising more retaliation to come. AFP reports that local residents are growing increasingly concerned by the apparent inability of UN peacekeepers and the Congolese military to rein in the violent rebel groups.
"All the victims were killed or wounded in their sleep ... the attackers accomplished their task with the help of axes, bayonets, knives and clubs to avoid firing firearms which could have alerted locals to their presence." ...
Constantin Charundagwa, a resident of Kaniola, said locals today felt badly let down by both the UN and the army.
"They roll past in their armoured vehicles here but are incapable of putting an end to the exactions and disarming the groups who are spreading terror throughout the region," he said.
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