this man told us what he'd witnessed near the town of chikapa. and throwing them into the river. people started to run away and hide. they followed them, killed them and threw them into the river. we saw the army do this. these are not isolated accounts, we've spoken with other witnesses who saw bodies being thrown into the river. we met a 13—year—old boy, shot in the chest, he survived. we've heard from people who saw women being dragged away by the army screaming. at this church in chikapa we met hundreds of villagers who'd fled violence at the hands of a pro—government militia, drawn from another ethnic group. translation: i saw people with machetes, guns and clubs. they were beheading people, cutting arms and legs, slashing bellies. i had to climb over dead bodies to escape. i had four children, but could escape with only one. the other three were killed. the government denies the army committed crimes against humanity and says it's been fighting militia terror. we are facing a terrorist offensive from there. we see no difference between thos

this is the government—run hospital in chikapa, the second city of the province.r, his mother, explains. he died of fever. he died just now. this is kasai, where children are dying from preventible diseases, their bodies weakened by malnutrition. all of this is avoidable. such suffering isn't a natural condition of these people. it's man—made and that is the tragedy of congo. a distraught mother waits for news of her sick child. and a lullaby as tiny lungs fight to survive. just some lives out of so many here, hanging in the balance. fergal keane, bbc news, kasai. i'm joined by solomon mughera from bbc africa. so many heartbreaking images. we can see the desperate need for help but getting it there is not straightforward. absolutely. it's a vast country, second largest in africa. it's also home to the largest un peacekeeping mission. it's been there nearly 20 years now but we can see problems still persist. the peacekeeping mission being sent, it was to tackle problems in the eastern part of the country, now you have kasai province, home to diamonds and home to 30