Aid Worker, Child Among 5 Murdered Congolese Military Blamed In Reports Describing Attack

Armed men in eastern Congo attacked a group of Rwandan children returning to their homeland last week, killing five people, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.

Pam O’Toole, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said local reports of Thursday’s assault suggested that some of the attackers were members of the Congolese military.

An employee of the Save the Children family tracing program was leading a trek of 11 Rwandan children toward Karuba, 30 miles west of Goma, when the attack occurred.

Armed men jumped off the back of a truck and killed aid worker Katumbo Mburanumwe, the child he was carrying, and three adult refugees who had joined the group.

“Some elements of the military appeared to be out of control and need to be brought under control before any more lives are lost,” O’Toole said.

So far, none of the bodies has been recovered, and U.N. officials were trying to piece together witness reports, O’Toole said.

“This is only the latest in a series of shocking reports of widespread killings or other human rights abuses across the Democratic Republic of Congo,” she said.

She said the U.N. refugee agency has temporarily halted its repatriation and other work based at Karuba, a collection point for mainly Hutu Rwandan refugees on their way home after hiding out in the forests.