The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the alleged desecration of the bodies of M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by government forces, a UN spokesperson said in a statement.

The M23 movement, also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, has been fighting the Congolese government since April last year following a mutiny.

"UN is deeply concerned about reports of alleged mistreatment of M23 detainees and desecration of corpses of M23 combatants by the Congolese armed forces,” reads part of the statement released yesterday by Ki-moon’s office.

The statement further adds, the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) has ‘raised the matter at the highest level with the FARDC’ and welcomes steps by the Congolese army to investigate the claims and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Images of DRC soldiers prodding the body of an M23 rebel fighter have been shown on the internet and the desecration of bodies is the latest scandal to hit FARDC.

The UN’s condemnation to Congolese army comes barely days after the government of Rwanda accused FARDC of deliberately shelling Rwanda’s western district of Rubavu.

The government described the attack as a provocative and deliberate act by FARDC and Monusco since there was no fighting in the area where the bombs were fired from.