Uganda rebels accused of massacre at church
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
KAMPALA, Uganda, Dec 29 (AP): Attackers wielding machetes hacked to death dozens of people at a church in remote eastern Congo, witnesses said Monday, and the Ugandan army accused the Lord's Resistance Army rebels of the massacre.
A European aid worker said more than 100 people are reported to have been killed in the attack the day after Christmas and that the Congolese military put the number dead at 120 to 150.
The accused Ugandan rebel group, which has waged one of Africa's longest and most brutal wars, denied responsibility. Spokesman David Matsanga said the Lord's Resistance Army had no fighters in the area and he accused Uganda's army of the killings.
But witness Abel Longi said he recognized the rebels by their dread locked hair, their Acholi language and the number of young boys among them.
"I hid in bush near the church and heard people wailing as they were being cut with machetes," Longi told The Associated Press in a telephone call from the village of Doruma, site of the church, where he owns a shop.
A European aid worker said more than 100 people are reported to have been killed in the attack the day after Christmas and that the Congolese military put the number dead at 120 to 150.
The accused Ugandan rebel group, which has waged one of Africa's longest and most brutal wars, denied responsibility. Spokesman David Matsanga said the Lord's Resistance Army had no fighters in the area and he accused Uganda's army of the killings.
But witness Abel Longi said he recognized the rebels by their dread locked hair, their Acholi language and the number of young boys among them.
"I hid in bush near the church and heard people wailing as they were being cut with machetes," Longi told The Associated Press in a telephone call from the village of Doruma, site of the church, where he owns a shop.