BUNIA, Congo (AP) – United Nations investigators have identified the killers of two U.N. military observers in northeastern Congo and believe the two may have been tortured before they were murdered.

Investigators “have been able to gather some information regarding the circumstances under which they were killed,” U.N. spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said.

The workers’ bodies were exhumed May 18 in Mongbwalu, a gold mining center about 40 miles northwest of the town of Bunia in the Ituri province. Bunia was the site of intense ethnic clashes for several days starting May 7.

Mounoubai declined to give more details, but other U.N. officials said the two – Maj. Sarwat Oran of Jordan and Capt. Siddon Davis Banda of Malawi – were captured and tortured before being shot in the head. Their bodies were mutilated, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The two unarmed military observers were among more than 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers deployed in Congo to monitor a 1999 cease-fire in Congo’s 41/2-year civil war.

United Nations investigators have also uncovered evidence of cannibalism during the fighting for Bunia, capital of the troubled Ituri district, Mounoubai said. Church leaders and residents have said cannibalism took place during the fighting.

“We have pictures and information under which these acts took place,” Mounoubai told The Associated Press. “But the human rights team is still gathering more information which will be released in due time.”

Some tribes believe that eating body parts of one’s foes imparts power, and reports of cannibalism are not new to Ituri.

The crisis in Bunia began after Uganda withdrew its 6,000 troops as part of a peace deal with Congo. Lendu and Hema tribal fighters swept into the once bustling market town, fighting savage street battles.

Red Cross workers have buried at least 415 people since fighting subsided in mid-May, but aid workers say the real toll is much higher.

On Friday, the U.N. Security Council authorized the deployment of a French-led international force of 1,400 troops to stabilize Bunia. But the mandate does not extend to the surrounding region.

AP-ES-06-01-03 1455EDT