An army commander in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been accused of leading the recent mass rape of at least 50 women

One of the victims, as well as sources quoted in a UN report, accuse Lt Col Kibibi Mutware of links to New Year's Day 2011 rapes in the town of Fizi. There have been numerous cases of mass rape in DR Congo's conflict but this is believed to be the largest single incident allegedly involving the army. From an everyday fight between two men over a woman, violence escalated into a brutal punitive expedition by a group of government troops against the population of Fizi. "A soldier was killed here right beside the hospital," explains Dr Faise Chacha, the head of Fizi hospital. "That started the panic and all our patients fled. We came back at 0500 the next morning and we started taking in people who had been stabbed and others - women - who had been raped." Chacha and the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have treated 51 rape victims so far, but they expect more as women who fled the attacks slowly return home. As in previous cases of rape in DR Congo, many victims are expected to keep their plight secret to avoid being abandoned by their husbands and families. Lt Col Kibibi is a former member of the CNDP rebel group, which has previously been accused of numerous human rights abuses. The 16 years of unrest in eastern DR Congo have become notorious for the widespread sexual abuse of women and young girls. More than 300 women, men and children were raped by a coalition of rebel groups in the town of Luvungi and neighbouring villages in North Kivu within miles of a UN base in August 2010.