The United Nations says it has now received information that 240 females of all ages, from babies to old women, were raped by  Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Congolese Mai-Mai militias, in the Walikale region of eastern DRC’s North Kivu Province. The UN says it was not told of the rapes until more than a week after the militia’s four-day stay in the area ended. It has come in for heavy criticism from several governments for not doing a better job of protecting the villagers, given that the UN has a base only 10 km from the area, according to International Medical Corps, the aid group that reported the rapes. The FDLR denies any involvement. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent two senior advisers to the region and the UN Security Council held an emergency session earlier this week to discuss the situation.

Links to other sites: allAfrica, Aljazeera, BBC, UPI, UN news service

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