UN accuses its group of killing 131 in Congo killings, spokesman says M23 wants joint investigation

JAKARTA - The armed group M23 executed at least 131 villagers in reprisal killings in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo late last month as part of a campaign of killing, rape, kidnapping, and looting, the UN said Thursday.

Initial investigations by the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) and the Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) into the November 29-30 massacre in the villages of Kishishe and Bambo found it was carried out in retaliation for clashes between M23 and a rival armed group.

"The victims were arbitrarily executed with bullets or bladed weapons", the UN said in a statement, launching Reuters on December 8.

Investigators interviewed 52 victims and firsthand witnesses, as well as various other sources in Rwindi, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Kishishe, where survivors and witnesses took refuge, the UN said.

"MONUSCO strongly condemns the unspeakable violence against civilians, calls for unrestricted access to the scene of the incident and the victims for emergency humanitarian assistance", the statement said.

The government accuses M23 of killing as many as 272 people. The militia, which seized several towns near the Rwanda and Ugandan borders this year, denied responsibility and called for a full investigation.

"We gave our version of the facts. We asked that there be an investigation with us on Kishishe, but the UN never came", M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka told Reuters.

"The United Nations is under pressure from the government to provide figures, even if they are wrong", he continued.

Recent M23 attacks have uprooted thousands of civilians and sparked a diplomatic spat with neighboring Rwanda, which Congo experts and the United Nations accuse of supporting the militias. Rwanda has denied involvement.

Earlier, the M23 rebel group said it was ready to withdraw from the occupied territories and would support regional peace efforts, although it was not represented in the talks, the third round of which ended without a resolution in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, this week.