UN probes claims of massacre

UN officials are investigating reports that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are slaughtering civilians as the region descends into chaos.

At least 20 people were killed and 33 were wounded after violence spread to the eastern town of Kiwanja, human rights groups say.

Rebel army leaders are also accused of kidnapping children and forcing them to fight in the increasingly brutal battle for control of the country.

Gen Laurent Nkunda's troops have seized control of Nyanzale, a town in the north, after wresting Kiwanja from the pro-government militia Mai Mai.
African and UN leaders are flying to Kenya for crisis talks today. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire as the violence escalated out of control.

UN officials said Kiwanja villagers have been subjected to two rounds of terror: First the Mai Mai arrived and killed those they accused of supporting Nkunda's rebels, then Nkunda's rebels stormed in, killing men they charged were loyal to the Mai Mai.

The Save the Children charity said it had uncovered at least two cases of militiamen ambushing children on their way to school or forcing their way into classrooms.

The conflict in eastern Congo is fuelled by festering ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of half a million Tutsis in Rwanda, and Congo's civil wars from 1996-2002, which drew bordering countries in a rush to plunder Congo's mineral wealth.