Caritas International said in a statement on Tuesday that the simultaneous attacks carried out in Orientale province were evidenced by bloody killings, looting, abductions and torching of villages all of which bear a trademark of the LRA rebels.

Uganda’s New Vision newspaper on Tuesday quoted the Director of Caritas Dungu- Doruma as saying that the massacres were horrific adding that on Christmas Day the rebels attacked people who had attended a concert organized by the Catholic Church in Faradje city, killing many people and injuring several others.

“The rebels returned the next morning to continue the massacre, leaving about 150 people dead in two days. They also attacked Duru, north of Dungu, where they killed 75 people and burned down a church,” the Caritas boss said, adding that the killings continued along the Sudan border, where 48 were murdered in Bangadi and 213 in Gurba.

Caritas has also been providing aid to about 6,500 people who took refuge at the Catholic Church in Dungu-Doruma diocese. It has asked the Congolese government to provide protection to the refugees.

The UN had earlier on Monday put the death toll for the three days at 189 people with 40 being killed in Faradje, 89 in Doruma and 60 in Gurba. Those who died in Faradje included a doctor, two priests, a school inspector, a pharmacist, head of the Federation des Entreprises du Congo and the assistant chief of the immigration office.

Other killings were conducted on December 24, in Bitima, Sekuru, Maridi and Tore where 29 deaths were reported. The report adds that twenty children were also abducted, while 120 houses were torched as the rebels also looted several shops, houses and a hospital.

It has also been reported that the rebels had occupied seven villages -Batande, Manzagala, Mabando, Bagbugu, Nakatilikpa, Nagengwa and Natulugbu, all in Haut Uele province.

Beginning mid-December, the LRA has been facing a joint military offensive being undertaken by the UPDF, SPLA of South Sudan and the Congolese army (FARDC) following their leaders, Joseph Kony’s failure to sign the final peace agreement that was negotiated with the Government between July 2006 and April 2008 in Juba, South Sudan.