Nairobi/Goma - Forces of rebel general Laurent Nkunda were suspected in a massacre of dozens of young men in the eastern Congo town of Kiwanja, BBC reported Friday morning.

BBC said the United Nations was looking into reports, coming after the rebel forces recaptured the town which pro-government Mai-Mai militias had briefly taken control of.

The report cited relief organisation workers as saying taht they found dozens of corpses of young men believed to have been Mai-Mai fighters, in the town.

Meanwhile the aid organisation Save the Children reported a massive rise in forced recruitment of child soldiers amid the heavy fighting in eastern Congo.

Especially worrisome was that in at least two cases, schools were attacked as armed groups sought to capture as many children as possible, a spokeswoman for the organisation said.

The UN was set to hold a crisis summit in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Friday in a new attempt to seek a political solution to the conflict. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to attend the meeting. (dpa)