/ 4 February 2009

Aid group slams UN after rebels kill hundreds in DRC

An aid group working in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is condemning United Nations peacekeepers for not protecting civilians attacked by Ugandan rebels.

Médecins sans Frontière says the Lord’s Resistance Army has killed more than 900 people in a series of massacres since Christmas.

Field coordinator Hakim Chkam said doctors had treated only 17 survivors since the attacks on villages were so brutal.

He said on Wednesday that villagers in eastern DRC were being attacked daily while UN peacekeepers stationed in the region failed to intervene.

The latest wave of violence by the Ugandan rebels follows a joint military operation by Ugandan, Sudanese and Congolese forces to flush them from the region’s thick forests. The operation began last December. — Sapa-AP