Up to 890 killed in battles in western Congo, UN says

The U.N. human-rights office cited “credible sources” in announcing that at least 890 people were killed last month during three days of clashes among villages in western Congo.

Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. human-rights chief, said the perpetrators should be brought to justice over the “shocking violence” that erupted between the Banunu and Batende communities in the Mai-ndombe province.

Her office said it has launched an investigation, as have national authorities in Congo.

The rights office said Wednesday that hundreds of houses and buildings were burned down or pillaged and about 16,000 people sought refuge in neighboring Republic of Congo. The violence Dec. 16-18 came just days before Congo’s presidential election. who was born Melanie Franklin in New Orleans and has worked for Iranian state television for 25 years.

Hossein Hashemi said his mother, an American citizen, lives in Tehran and comes back to the U.S. about once a year to see family.

Federal law allows judges to order witnesses detained if prosecutors can show that their testimony has extraordinary value in a criminal case and they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. crackdown over protests against dramatic fuel price hikes in the economically shattered country. A doctors group said it had treated more than 60 gunshot wounds in a “human-rights crisis.”

State security minister Owen Ncube announced the arrests on television and thanked security forces for “standing firm” in the face of the country’s most serious unrest since deadly postelection violence in August.

While some hungry Harare residents reported being tear-gassed by police when they ventured out for bread, President Emmerson Mnangagwa denounced what he called “wanton violence and cynical destruction.” He appeared to side with authorities who blame the opposition for unrest.