New ethnic violence in Congo

The UN is trying to help restore peace in the country

By Chris Simpson in Uvira

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been marking the second anniversary of the start of their rebellion against President Laurent Kabila.

Public meetings and ceremonies have been held in rebel held areas in the east of the country, but the anniversary has been overshadowed by continuing violence.

The past few weeks have seen a spate of attacks close to the city of Uvira.

President Kabila has been accused of funding the groups carrying attacks

Many of the civilian victims have been Congolese Tutsis, known as the Banyamulenge, and there have been warnings in Uvira of a new wave of ethnic violence which could result in many more deaths in the future.

Uvira fell to the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) on the first day of the rebellion, but while the rebels still control the modest run-down city on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, there are worsening security problems to the north and south.

Campaign of extermination

Relief organisations have warned for months of a huge unmonitored humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, with many of the worst affected areas still inaccessible to outside assistance.

The war has hit all sections of the Congolese population, while human rights groups have documented atrocities by all the protagonists.

But in recent weeks there has been particular concern about the violence being directed against the Banyamulenge.

A Banyamulenge spokesman in Uvira warned of a campaign of extermination.

Massacre

He said Congolese militia groups, known as the Mayi Mayi were responsible for a series of attacks and ambushes on the roads out of Uvira, specifically targeting Tutsis.

He also talked of a recent massacre in a village in which 37 Tutsis have been killed, some of them burnt alive in their houses.

The Banyamulenge have accused President Kabila of funding and supplying the Mayi Mayi and other groups.

But they are also strongly critical of the rebel administration, saying the RCD has done nothing to stop the killings.