Forty six Pygmies have been beheaded by a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local media reported on friday.
The rebel group, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), killed the 46 people in a village in Ituri province.
According to the interior minister of the province, Adjio Gigi, the victims were all killed between late Wednesday and early Thursday by the rebels.
Only a woman with gunshot wound, and her two-year-old child, managed to escape to report the killing to the authorities.
ADF rebels have since last year expanded their actions in Ituri and North-Kivu province, committing massacres against civilians.
The killings have continued in spite of operations against them by government troops and the UN mission in the region.
