Congo Massacres: Living in Constant Fear

Kambere Kahendo was cooking cassava leaves when the rebels arrived in her village in the northeast part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) one August afternoon. She hurriedly gathered her children inside the house and locked the door, praying the fighters would move on.

Moments later, gunshots erupted in the street. Her door was smashed from its hinges, and the rebels entered her home. Paralyzed by fear, Kahendo watched as the men began to slit her children’s throats with a machete, one by one, smiling and singing as they killed. Then she passed out.

“Since then I’ve been having nightmares,” the 52-year-old says. “I am troubled in my mind.”

The massacre in the village of Mayi-Moya, (ADF). The violence has left nearly 700 civilians dead, according to Human Rights Watch, but local sources put the figure considerably higher.