Militia Kills 16, Kidnaps 34 Girls in the East

Militiamen armed with guns and machetes killed 16 people and kidnapped at least 34 girls in attacks last week in a remote area of eastern Congo, a U.N. spokesman said.

U.N. peacekeepers arrived in the area Saturday to protect the population, U.N. spokesman Christophe Boulierarch said by phone from Bunia, 40 miles south of Che. He cited witnesses as saying 34 girls had been kidnapped from Che. Residents told the U.N. that 15 people were slain by Lendu militiamen, and Boulierarch said he saw the body of another man who had been shot.