‘More than 3,000 killed’ in Congo violence

The Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has said that 3,383 people have been killed in the violence in the country’s Kasai region since last October, the Reuters news agency is reporting.

The figures are based on local church sources, it adds.

The UN has reported on the discovery of more than 20 mass graves but has put the death toll at around 400.

The clashes have been between the army and a rebel group, but civillians have got caught up in the violence.

Reuters says that the church has found that army also destroyed 10 villages.

In a separate report, the Norwegian Refugee Council says more than 1.3 million people have been displaced by the violence in what it calls “one of the largest displacement crises in the world today”.