UN Congo peacekeeping force to pull aide to some Congo army units after civilian killings

UN: Congolese army killed 62 civilians in E. Congo

KINSHASA, Congo — The United Nations says it will suspend military help to Congolese military units implicated in the deaths of civilians in volatile eastern Congo.

Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende on Monday urged an investigation into the 62 civilian killings between May and September.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy says the killings happened in North Kivu province.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission started backing the Congolese army earlier this year in its effort to oust Rwandan Hutu militamen.

Eastern Congo has been wracked by violence since Rwanda’s 1994 genocide spilled war across the border. Hutu militias that participated in the massacres of more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus sought refuge in Congo.