Over two dozen minors raped in eastern Congo: U.N.

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 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.

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 from the scene. This surprised the U.N. Security Council, which suggested MONUSCO should improve communication with locals.

Seven years after a 1998-2003 war that claimed more than 5 million lives, Congo is still plagued by insecurity with Rwandan Hutu and local Mai Mai militias at large in its mineral-rich east and brutal Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels in the north.

Rebels from the Mai Mai militia and Rwandan Hutu FDLR occupied Luvungi in North Kivu province from July 30 to August 3.

U.N. officials have said they first learned of the rapes on August 12. But a report from the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA, dated two days earlier, refers to the reported rapes of at least 25 people.

One aid group has said many women were gang-raped by between two and six armed men.

The attack has stung the United Nations, whose peacekeeping force in Congo is its largest anywhere. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made protecting civilians and combating sexual violence central themes of his stewardship of the world body.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)