Displaying items by tag: villagers killed

The UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has denounced the killings of fifty villagers by M23 in the conflict-wracked east, and called for an investigation to ‘bring justice’. The March 23 movement, or M23, is a Congolese Tutsi rebel group that was dormant for years. It took up arms again last November, seizing Bunagana town on Uganda’s border in June. ‘The UN said that the killings could constitute crimes under international humanitarian law, as well as violating the recent ceasefire. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese doctor who won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping rape victims in the strife-torn region, also expressed horror at reports of mass slaughter, missing people, and forced recruitment of children into conflict. Human Rights Watch said UN troops should be deployed to protect survivors. Pray that M23 is disarmed and withdraws from land it has seized as requested by the East African leaders. On 8 December the UN announced that 131 civilians had died in an attack by M23 in November. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63899461