Kampala — Hundreds of civilians were on Saturday burnt to death in a church by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels.

The rebels set ablaze a church called Bima in the Democratic Republic of Congo at midnight as the faithful prayed.

It is not yet known how many Christians were in the church at the time, according to Radio Okapi, a UN radio in Congo.

In an indescribably savage manner, the rebels then attacked several homesteads, axing, cutting, slitting throats and crushing skulls with wooden bats and axes.

The massacre occurred in the town of Tora and Libombi and two nearby mining communities located 130km from Dungu, the military base of operation lightning thunder.

According to the president of the civil society of Dungu, Felicien Balani: "The LRA entered around midnight. They surprised the faithful of the church who were in a prayer vigil. They burned them in the church," said Balani.

The rebels also burnt several houses at the gold mine town of Tora. So far recorded are five deaths and six injured. Civil society organisations working in Dungu said over 100 people had fled the area by yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch said so far 600 people have been killed by the rebels led by Joseph Kony since December 14, 2008.

"In Doruma, it was really awful. They had killed at least 300 people. We were in a village where there are only six survivors, all the others were killed," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, who coordinates the investigations on behalf of Human Rights Watch.

"One of the few survivors, a 72-year-old man who arrived late for Christmas lunch, hid in the bushes and watched in horror as his wife, children and grandchildren were killed," Woudenberg said.

After the massacre, the rebels "ate the Christmas feast the villagers had prepared, and then slept among the dead bodies before continuing on their trail of destruction and death" through another 12 villages.

Among the latest incidents, 86 people were massacred in Sambia, Akua and Tomate towns between January 8 and 11.