More than 3,300 people have been killed in the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region since last October, the Catholic Church says.
The figure, reported by Reuters, is from Church sources in the country.
The deaths are the result of clashes between the army and a rebel group, but civilians have also been caught up in the violence.
The UN has reported on the discovery of more than 20 mass graves but has put the death toll so far at about 400.
The UN human rights chief, Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said investigators in Kasai province had identified dozens of mass graves along with harrowing evidence of people being shot, burned or hacked to death.
Atrocities were being carried out by the security forces and a government-backed militia, known as the Bana Mura, which was set up to help fight a rival group known as the Kamuina Nsapu, Prince Zeid said.
