Congolese army says rebels massacred 50 civilians in eastern town

Democratic Republic of Congo's armed forces on Thursday said M23 rebels and their allies killed 50 civilians in a massacre in the eastern town of Kishishe this week. Congo's army and the M23, a Tutsi-led militia, have been locked in fighting for months in the country's restive east.

Democratic Republic of Congo's armed forces on Thursday said M23 rebels and their allies killed 50 civilians in a massacre in the eastern town of Kishishe this week.

Congo's army and the M23, a Tutsi-led militia, have been locked in fighting for months in the country's restive east. Reached by Reuters, M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said the group would respond to the accusations later in a statement.

The United Nations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and a U.S. diplomat also said they had information about a massacre on Tuesday in Kishishe, North Kivu province, but did not give figures. "We are deeply saddened by the massacre of civilians in Kishishe, which could constitute a war crime," Stephanie Miley, charge d'affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, said on Twitter.

A spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO, said it had received reports of a large number of civilian casualties committed during clashes between the M23 and local militias in Kishishe, and called for an investigation. HRW researcher Thomas Fessy said the international rights group had also received "credible reports" about the killing of civilians amid clashes which led to the M23 capturing the territory.

Congo and U.N. experts say neighbouring Rwanda supports the M23, which Rwanda has consistently denied. The two countries took part in talks last week in Angola aimed at finding solutions to the conflict. One of their agreements was that an East African Community (EAC) regional force

would intervene against the M23 if it did not stop fighting and withdraw from its positions.

The EAC started sending troops into eastern Congo earlier this year to help fight various armed groups. A South Sudan army spokesman on Thursday said a battalion of 700 South Sudan troops would be sent to join the regional force. Earlier on Thursday, thousands of people took the streets of Goma and Bukavu, the two main cities in Congo's east, to protest the deterioration of the security situation and foreign intervention.