U.N. finds 38 more mass graves in DR Congo's Kasai region

The United Nations said on Wednesday it had identified an additional 38 probable mass graves in Democratic Republic of Congo’s central Kasai region, bringing the total to at least 80 since the outbreak of an insurrection last August.

A spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo told reporters in the capital Kinshasa that the graves were identified during a joint mission with Congolese military investigators last week to western Kasai.

Army prosecutor General Joseph Ponde said this year that Kamuina Nsapu fighters were suspected of dumping bodies in the graves in Kasai province. The government also blamed the militia for mass graves discovered in neighbouring Kasai-Central province.

But witnesses in Kasai-Central interviewed in March by Reuters said they had seen army trucks dumping bodies.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and Kamuina Nsapu, according to the local Catholic church.

Reuters