Militiamen carrying guns and machetes killed 16 people this week and kidnapped at least 34 young girls in a series of attacks on a remote area of eastern Congo, the United Nations said.

Two platoons of UN peacekeepers arrived in the remote area by helicopter early Saturday to protect the population from further violence, UN spokesman Christophe Boulierarch said by telephone from Bunia, capital of Ituri Province.

Bunia is 60 kilometres south of Che, an area of enormous green hills that has been attacked several times since January 19.

Boulierarch and a team of 60 Pakistani peace keepers had tried to reach Che on Friday but were delayed due to bad weather. Poor roads make the area difficult to reach.

Earlier this week, aid workers with the group German Agro Action reported seeing burning houses and residents streaming out of Che as it was under attack.

Boulierarch cited witnesses as saying that 34 girls had been kidnapped from Che and two others were missing.

Residents told the UN that 15 people were murdered by armed ethnic Lendu militiamen.

Boulierarch said he saw the body of another old man along the road outside town who had been shot once in the head.

Militiamen have terrorized the village every day since January 19, looting and burning homes, and killing people in the night, Boulierarch said.

Residents said militiamen kidnapped the three dozen young girls early Saturday, just before peacekeepers arrived. Boulierarch said a helicopter reconnaissance flight over Che found 220 homes burned and crops scorched and smouldering.

He said it was not yet clear how many people fled the area.

(China Daily January 31, 2005)