Villagers found dead in town
2008-11-07 09:03
Kiwanja - Villagers who fled fighting in this rebel-held town trickled home on Thursday to find the bodies of more than a dozen men in civilian clothes in and around mud huts - a sign that the conflict in eastern Congo is spreading.
The villagers accused rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's forces of the slayings. But New York-based Human Rights Watch accused both the rebels and a pro-government militia called the Mai Mai of deliberately killing civilians in Kiwanja and said UN peacekeepers nearby had been unable to protect them.
Nkunda's men wrested control of Kiwanja on Wednesday following heavy fighting with the Mai Mai, one of many indicators that a fragile cease-fire is close to unraveling.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate cease-fire and urged the armed groups involved to find a political solution to the violence that has plagued eastern Congo.
Ban was flying to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to attend an African Union summit on Friday aimed at bringing peace to the region. Congo President Joseph Kabila is expected, along with Rwanda President Paul Kagame, who wields strong influence with Nkunda's rebels.
Defenceless people
The villagers in Kiwanja said rebels had killed unarmed civilians suspected of supporting the Mai Mai, but the rebels said the dead were militia fighters who had been armed.
A UN official said Kiwanja was in fact subjected to two rounds of terror: First the Mai Mai arrived and killed those they accused of supporting Nkunda's rebels, then Nkunda's rebels stormed in, killing men they charged were loyal to the Mai Mai.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to reporters.
Human Rights Watch said at least 20 people were killed and another 33 wounded during the battle for the town.
"The UN should not leave these defenceless people to be slaughtered by fighters on both sides," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior Africa researcher for the rights group.
North of Kiwanja, rebels captured an army base in Nyanzale Thursday after fighting with the army, the UN said.
Dozens of militia groups operate in the remote terraced valleys and hills of eastern Congo, a lawless region that the government and a 17 000-strong peacekeeping mission have struggled to bring under control for years.
In Kiwanja on Thursday, an AP reporter was led by frightened, whispering residents to huts where she counted the bodies of 16 people - covered with blankets or sheets - in one small part of Kiwanja. All but two were men, the residents said. None appeared armed.
Chorade Muhimdo, 38, said residents who stayed in Kiwanja despite rebel orders to leave were inside their homes when rebels "came and shot them".
"There's no reason," he said. "Once they think you are Mai Mai, they have to kill you."
Associated Press writers Michelle Faul in eastern Congo and Edith M Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
- AP