(Bloomberg) -- The killing of 535 civilians in western Democratic Republic of Congo last month was carried out in an organized and planned manner, the United Nations said, and called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted.
The massacre was carried out in four attacks that began on Dec. 16, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission of the Congo said in a statement Thursday. The violence was allegedly triggered by a dispute over the burial of the customary chief of the Banunu community, it said.
“There has been no confirmation of exactly who carried out the killings,” the mission said. The attacks were “extremely violent and fast, leaving little time for the populations to flee,” it said.
Read a related article about conflict in Congo
UN investigators identified 59 burial sites in two of the attacked towns and more may be discovered, the mission said. Hundreds of buildings, including churches, schools and health centers, were damaged in the violence, it said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone, Jacqueline Mackenzie
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