KINSHASA (Reuters) -Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed at least 319 civilians, including 48 women and 19 children, last month in eastern Congo, Volker Turk, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said on Wednesday, citing “first-hand accounts”.
The violence in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu province produced “one of the largest documented death tolls in such attacks since the M23’s resurgence in 2022,” Turk said in a statement.
Reuters first reported on the killings in late July, citing findings by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) that put the death toll at 169 people.
M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters at the time it would investigate but also said the report could be a “smear campaign”.
A spokesperson for M23 and a spokesperson for Rwanda’s military could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Congo newsroomWriting by Robbie Corey-Boulet)
