Casualties
While specific casualties have not been released, various sources have reported that an estimated 45,000 people die a month in the Congo, mostly of malnutrition and disease. Congo's monthly death rate of 2.2 deaths for each 1,000 people – essentially unchanged from the last survey in 2004 – is nearly 60 percent higher than the average for sub-Saharan Africa.
After the October 29 ceasefire, looting in Goma by Congolese soldiers was said to have caused at least 20 deaths and another 50 civilians were killed during the battle for Kiwanja. Death tolls as of November 7 were reported to be in the hundreds for civilians, though an estimated 1,400 die every day.
The Human Rights Watch stated that they had found at least 150 dead civilians in the town of Kiwanja who had been "summarily executed" by rebels. HRW reported in a statement that "following the Kiwanja killings, CNDP and Mai-Mai combatants continue to kill, rape, forcibly recruit children, and otherwise mistreat civilians in and around Kiwanja, the neighbouring town of Rutshuru, and in areas further north." Also, it reported another "18 deliberate killings in November and December perpetrated by the CNDP, the Mai-Mai and their allies", and received reports of "another 25 deaths, although ongoing insecurity has made it impossible to verify all such information."
Read more about this topic: 2008 Nord-Kivu Campaign