Lendu militia fighters gather at a Lendu camp just outside Bunia, Wednesday, May 21, 2003 in northeast Congo. Fighting in and around Bunia between armed militias linked to rival Hema and Lendu tribes was estimated by the United Nations to have killed hundreds of people last week. (AP)
Cannibalism, Violence Plague the Congo Story aired: Thursday, May 22, 2003
Hundreds of mutilated bodies were gathered from the streets of Bunia, in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday.
The dead were civilians killed in the ethnic conflict that has cost an estimated 5,000 lives in northeastern Congo in the past 9 months.
There are also reports of cannibalism and of fighters in the streets wielding assault rifles decorated with human organs.
At least a hundred thousand people have fled the troubled town and thousands of others are sheltering in a U.N. compound.
Mike Crawley, correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, joins Here and Now from his hom in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss the violence in the Congo.
Guests:
Mike Crawley, correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
