U.N.: 3,300 have died in central Congo conflict

KINSHASA, Congo — More than 3,300 people have been killed in the Kasai provinces of central Congo since August, according to a document released Tuesday by the Catholic church.

The new death toll came as the U.N. human rights chief called for an independent, international probe into hundreds of recent killings there, faulting the government for failing to protect civilians.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein cited “harrowing” reports from U.N. rights experts he deployed this month to interview refugees from the central Kasai provinces.

“My team saw children as young as 2 whose limbs had been chopped off; many babies had machete wounds and severe burns,” he said in his report to the U.N. Human Rights Council. “One 2-month-old baby seen by my team had been hit by two bullets four hours after birth; the mother was also wounded.’

The government will soon publish its own report on the crisis, Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“Beyond verifying whether these figures are true or not, it demonstrates that this is a real security situation that must absolutely lead to an appropriate government reaction to put an end to this,” he said.

The region in central Congo exploded into violence after a traditional chief known as Kamwina Nsapu was killed in a military operation in August after his militants had revolted against Congolese authorities.

The subsequent fighting had previously been blamed for 400 deaths before the Catholic church released the figure of 3,300 Tuesday.