KINSHASA (Reuters) - Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels killed at least 290, and maybe more than 300 people in Congo in a previously unreported massacre in December 2009, U.N. officials told Reuters Saturday.
The killing spree took place in villages in Democratic Republic of Congo's remote northeast and followed warnings of rebel threats after similar massacres the year before.
"We have confirmed 290 at least have been killed and 150 abducted," said Liliane Egounlety, who led the investigations into the killings, which took place in Congo's Haut-Uele district in December.
Todd Howland, director of the joint U.N. human rights office in Congo, said the number "could easily reach over 300."
News of the killing will fuel the debate over the role and future of the much-criticised U.N. mission, which complains it lacks resources to protect civilians but is also under pressure from the government to pull out of Congo by next year.
(Reporting by Katrina Manson; Editing by David Lewis)
