Congo’s government dramatically increased the death toll from a massacre last week they blamed on M23 rebels, saying on Monday that 270 people had been killed in an attack that broke a fragile cease-fire agreement.

M23′s chairman challenged the figure and accused Congo’s government of creating a diversion from other atrocities in the region, which he says have been committed by government soldiers and their allies.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Monday that the government was opening an official inquiry into what happened in Kishishe, a village located about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the regional capital of Goma in the east.

“Our justice minister is currently at The Hague in the Netherlands and has already referred the matter to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court so that he can investigate the massacres in Kishishe,” Muyaya said. “We are asking the population to be calm and that these M23s will pay for these attacks.”

The Congolese government initially accused the M23 rebels and Rwandan defence forces of killing 50 people in Kishishe. Rwanda’s government has repeatedly denied backing M23 rebels.

There was no immediate corroboration of that government figure or the new toll of at least 270 dead due to insecurity in the area but Muyaya said the information had come from local civil society groups.

• An AP report