Again, disturbing shades of Rwanda as grisly conflict continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo: The Ugandan army states that the Lord’s Resistance Army hacked 45 people to death in a Catholic church in the northeastern part of the DRC. More:

“An aid official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity confirmed Friday’s massacre … ‘There are body parts everywhere. Inside the church, the entrance and in the church compound,’ the aid official said.


‘We got information the rebels cut 45 people into pieces,’ added army spokesman Captain Chris Magezi.


‘They were cut with pangas (machetes) and hit with clubs but some luckily managed to escape. Our forces came to know about the killings while pursuing the LRA yesterday (Saturday) and the pursuit is on for the killers.’


Captain Magezi said the victims, mostly women, children and the elderly, were mutilated in the style used by Hutu extremists during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Magezi later said 13 of the insurgents were shot dead by the forces.”

The LRA is designated a terrorists organization by the United States, and claims to operate in Uganda, DRC and Sudan with the goal of establishing a theocracy. From GlobalSecurity.org:

“The LRA abducted numerous children and, at clandestine bases, terrorized them into virtual slavery as guards, concubines, and soldiers. In addition to being beaten, raped, and forced to march until exhausted, abducted children were forced to participate in the killing of other children who had attempted to escape. Amnesty International reported that without child abductions, the LRA would have few combatants.”

The Daily Monitor in Uganda has more details on the massacre, including that five children were also apparently seized by the rebels.