Suspected militiamen killed a technician and three rangers from the famed Virunga National Park in the DR Congo turbulent east.

The M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s volatile east has summarily executed 29 civilians since mid-June in areas under their control, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

The M23 — or March 23 Movement — leapt to prominence when it briefly captured the eastern Congolese city of Goma in 2012 before being driven out in a joint UN-Congolese offensive.

After lying mostly dormant for years, the group resumed fighting last November. The rebels have since made significant advances in eastern Congo.

Last month, M23 fighters captured the strategic town of Bunagana on the Congolese-Ugandan border.

“Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that on 21 June, following fighting around the village of Ruvumu, M23 rebels summarily killed at least 17 civilians, including two teenagers, whom they accused of informing the Congolese army about their positions and hideouts,”

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