GENEVA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday called upon authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to promptly investigate a massacre that saw some 47 civilians lose their lives in the country's northern Kivu province on Aug. 13.
"This is the most serious violence to affect the area since late 2014, when the UN documented at least 237 civilian deaths in a three-month period between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2014," OHCHR said in a statement.
"We urge the government of the DRC to enhance its efforts to protect civilians, to investigate these serious violations of international humanitarian law and to ensure the perpetrators of human rights abuses and violations on all sides are brought to justice," it added.
According to the UN agency, the attack was suspected to have been carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group of Ugandan origin.
Among the 47 dead were two children. An additional four individuals were wounded and 10 houses were burnt down in eastern DRC's Beni area.
The latest attack brings the total number of civilian fatalities at the hands of presumed ADF members to more than 645 since Jan. 1, 2014, OHCHR said.
The eastern part of the DRC has been plagued for two decades by chronic instability caused by local and foreign armed groups who have perpetrated ethnic violence while fighting for mineral resources.
