20100904
africanews

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than two dozen children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among the hundreds of victims of a recent wave of rapes in the nation's conflict-torn east, the United Nations said on Friday.

All but one of the 28 confirmed child victims were girls, and one of the cases involved attempted rape, the office of U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy said in a statement.

The United Nations defines a minor as a child under 18 years old. The statement said the child victims were between the ages of 12 and 17.

Local health officials in Rubonga have said eight more minors have been been treated for sexual abuse, the statement said, though Coomaraswamy's office has not confirmed those cases.

Earlier this week, the United Nations said its MONUSCO peacekeeping force in the Congo found that at least 240 people had recently been raped in the town of Luvungi.

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U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said on Friday the figure for child rapes was part of the total number of rape victims.

MONUSCO said it was informed of the mass rape more than a week after it happened, even though they had a base just 20 miles (30 km) from the scene. This surprised the U.N. Security Council, whic