The United Nations Peace Keeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has said 400 people have been killed and mass graves discovered in the restive nation’s central province of Kasai.
Violence in the province started in April last year when tension erupted between the supporters of the tribal chief Kamwina Nsapu and the DRC authorities.
It heightened in August when Nsapu was killed by the DRC army alongside 18 other people in a battle for the control of Tshimbulu town which is 120km from the province’s capital, Kananga.
According to a statement released by the UN on Tuesday night, the recent clashes have taken a new trend.
“The violence in the Kasai has already claimed the lives of possibly more than 400 civilians as well as a significant number of members of the security forces. It must stop,” said Maman S. Sidikou, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the country and the head of MONUSCO.
Mr. Sidikou appealed for political solution between the government of President Joseph Kabila and the tribal militia.
“At this point, intensifying the military response will only exacerbate the violence and further place civilian populations in danger,” he warned.
The militia group is known for attacking government symbols mainly the police and the army.
The civilian casualty is ever massive during the clashes between the government security and the militia.
In late March this year two UN experts disappeared only to be found dead with dozens of police officers.
The UN, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) and the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) warned that the level of violence and reported human rights violations necessitate “an urgent response from the country’s political leaders.”