ABC HAMMERS ANVIL

Australian based Anvil Mining , that is:

An Australian mining company has been implicated in the massacre of what the United Nations estimates to be more than 100 villagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The attacks occurred in October last year but details have not been made public until now.

ABC TV's Four Corners program tonight reveals how the Anvil Mining company, which operates a mine in the south-east of the war-ravaged country, provided vehicles and other assistance to government troops to quell a rebel uprising in the village of Kilwa, 50 kilometres from its mine.

The company maintains it did nothing wrong.

Eyewitnesses say that on October 14 last year, a small band of rebels took over the police station in the town of Kilwa, then set its sights on Anvil Mining.

The rebels were unhappy with the Australian company they believed was taking multi-million dollar profits from mining silver and copper out of the country, yet was giving little in return to the community that provided its work force.

The rebels got as far as the Anvil depot, looting trucks and stealing fuel and food.

Although small on the scale of uprisings witnessed during the Congo's eight-year, bloody civil war, the situation was taken very seriously by the Government of Joseph Kabila.

If only Anvil had allowed its operation to be destroyed and its staff killed the rebels and ABC would be happy.

Bill Turner, Anvil's chief executive officer is convinced he did the right thing. When confronted with the allegation that Anvil had allowed government forces to use company vehicles he replied, "so what?" Exactly.