Up to 37 people, including several pregnant women, were killed in a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday.
The killings, which took place in the country’s eastern province South Kivu, is thought to have occurred as a result of a dispute over cattle.
According to witnesses victims were stabbed, shot and burnt to death inside their homes. 8 children and 18 women were among those murdered, and patients at a medical centre were also attacked leaving 20 more injured, 10 of who are in a critical condition.
Laurent Mende, a spokesman for the government stated that massacre was a ‘revenge attack’ following recent cattle raids in the area, where it is thought that a cattle herder was killed.
He added “The army commander (in the locality) has been arrested because he reacted too slowly. He is now with military police. Authorities also arrested a local leader suspected of coordinating the attacks”.
The UN deployed peacekeeping troops into the area where ethnic violence is rife on Sunday
The head of the peacekeeping mission Martin Kobler said, “Arrangements are being made to protect the local population with the deployment of peacekeepers, this violence is unacceptable and must be halted immediately,”
