UNICEF SAVE KIDS

Unicef says 232 children have been freed from a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The UN's children's charity said it had secured the release of the children from Mayi Mayi forces in North Kivu over the past few days.

It said many of them had been put in temporary care facilities, to await reunification with their families.

But Unicef said hundreds of children remain in the hands of armed groups in the DRC.

It said a recent surge in the conflict in North Kivu had led to a rise in the number of children being recruited by such groups. It said their average age was 14 years.

Unicef said it won the release of the children with the help of the charity Save the Children, and the collaboration of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, but it did not say how their freedom was achieved.