Rwandan Hutu rebels murdered seven women in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the head of the United Nations (UN) mission in the country, Alan Doss, stated on Tuesday.
According to the UN mission in DRC (Monuc), rebels of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) on February 11 and 12 first attacked the remote village of Bisembe, in Sud-Kivu province.
“They then encircled the Bisembe forest and captured 15 women from Mulombozi [in the Mwenga territory], who were going to market in this place. Eight later escaped, but unfortunately the seven others were later found murdered,” a Monuc statement said.
“This attack shows the cowardice of the FDLR in attacking the most vulnerable people,” Doss, the UN special envoy to DRC, said in a statement.
It is “important for the Congolese and the international community to stay on course to put an end to the threats that they represent”, Doss added, saying that the killings “added to so much other suffering by the population”.
Three of the eight women who escaped managed to find their way home, while the Congolese army was seeking the five others. UN troops based at Kamituga, about 30km from Bisembe, were also on their trail.
Fewer than 6 000 FDLR fighters are still believed to be active in the Sud-Kivu and Nord-Kivu provinces, where they are frequently accused of atrocities against civilians.
The Congolese army is due in coming weeks to launch a new operation against the rebels. MONUC troops will support this offensive, with the priority of protecting civilians from the military activity. — AFP