Reports are emerging of attacks in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in which hundreds of civilians have been killed.

The Rome-based missionary news agency said at least two-hundred civilians were killed when rebel forces attacked their villages in two separate areas of Kivu province, beginning last Friday.

Earlier, the Reuters new agency reported that one-hundred ethnic Tutsi civilians had been massacred at a village on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

Local residents told a Reuters reporter the killings were carried out by mercenaries allegedly paid by the Rwandan government.

Rwanda, which had previously backed the ethnic Tutsis, has denied any involvement.