Rwandan rebels torch DRC homes
2009-04-18 20:09
Goma - Five children were among seven people burnt to death when Rwandan Hutu rebels torched about 250 homes in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive east, the local chieftain said on Saturday.
The attack took place late on Friday in Luofu village in Nord-Kivu province, its chief Joseph Mulindwe told AFP by telephone, adding that the Congolese army tried to stop the invaders, but were helpless as the rebels outnumbered them.
"The rebels burnt 250 houses," he said, adding that the huts went up in flames quickly as they had straw roofs.
"Five children and two elderly people died," he said.
The UN mission in Congo, or Monuc, early on Saturday sent peacekeeping troops to the sprawling village of about 14 000 people and the Red Cross despatched a team to bury the victims, Mulindwe said.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels have been operating out of eastern DRC since the aftermath of Rwanda's 1994 genocide by Hutus against the Tutsi minority.
Some of its members are accused of being among the main perpetrators of those massacres.
"They have become crueller than before," Mulindwe said.
The UN special envoy to DRC on Thursday renewed a plea for additional resources to better protect civilians against attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels and other armed groups.