Congo: In the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 25 civilians have been killled by the Mai-Mai Mazembe ethnic group in the country’s violence-torn east.

Officials said almost all of them were hacked to death with machetes. A local representative of the governor of North Kivu province said, all those killed were Hutu civilians and the killings, in and around the village of Kyaghala, took place yesterday morning. He said the killing by the Mai-Mai Mazembe in the Hutu village will enflame the inter-ethnic conflict in the region.

The last major attack to strike the volatile region came in December when at least 35 civilians were killed in clashes between fighters from the two groups.