Dozens of civilians were killed during fighting between rebels and militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, both sides said Saturday, with each blaming the other.The National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) of renegade general Laurent Nkunda said the Mai-Mai militia was responsible for some 20 deaths, while the Mai-Mai Congolese Patriotic Resistance (Pareco) said at least 30 people had been killed.
Local authorities accused the CNDP, saying NkundaÂ’s fighters had massacred more than 40 villagers since Friday near Nyamitaba and Kalonge, more than 60 kilometres northwest of Goma, capital of Nord-Kivu province. No independent death toll has yet been collated.
The UN mission in the DR Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, has sent a patrol to the area to “determine what has happened”, according to spokesman Major Prem Tiwari. “The CNDP is killing civilians in the fields and in the bush,” Nyamitaba district administrator Emmanual Munyamariba told AFP.