UN rights body votes to send experts to deadly DRC region

Geneva - The UN's main human rights body has voted to send international experts to look into abuses and killings in central Democratic Republic of Congo, where thousands of deaths and mutilations have been reported in recent months.

The Human Rights Council approved a resolution on Friday that blended stringent calls for an international investigation led by the European Union with calls from Africa for DRC's own forces and investigators to take the lead.

The resolution calls for experts working with DRC's government to visit people and sites in the central Kasai regions, where militias and government troops have been blamed for abuses.

The Catholic church this week estimated that over 3 300 people have been killed in the Kasais since August, including two UN investigators and their interpreter.