Congo-Kinshasa: Rwandan Rebels Kill Dozens of Civilians

MONUC troops on patrol in Goma (file photo).
5 January 2012

The Rwandan rebel group, Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR), killed 39 people on Monday and Tuesday in the Shabunda region of South Kivu, human rights groups have told Radio Okapi.

The killings took place in Luyuyu, Ngolombe and Kishenya villages, all situated in Bamuguba South.

The groups reported that 30 people were killed in Luyuyu, among them a pregnant woman whose stomach was hacked open and her baby removed.

Eight were killed in Ngolombe and the village head of Kishenya was decapitated. Then depot of the aid agency, Action Solidarité, was also vandalized and medication destroyed.

A number of sources told Radio Okapi that the FDLR has promised to "shoot at everything that moves" on its way to capturing the entire Shabunda area.

The assailants reportedly said the attacks were reprisals against people for siding with youths who have organized themselves into vigilante groups to fight the rebels.

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