The United Nations Human Rights office is calling for an independent inquiry in the alleged killing of up to 1,000 members of an Angolan religious group described by the government as a sect.

"There have been alarming reports in recent weeks of an alleged massacre in the central province of Huambo in Angola," said the spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville on May 12.

Colville said his office had been working to get more information on the incident but the facts remain unclear, with wildly differing accounts of the number of casualties.

"According to the government, nine police officers and 13 civilians were killed in a confrontation in Serra Sumé when police attempted to arrest the leader of a religious sect called "Luz du Mundo" (Light of the World)," he said.

"But other accounts of the incident claim that hundreds of followers of the sect were killed. There are even accounts suggesting the number may exceed 1,000," Colville said at a U.N. press briefing.

He noted that recent editorials and reports in State media "condemning the sect have been very worryingly virulent."

"We understand that a Government inquiry has been launched into the incident, and we urge the Government to ensure that a truly meaningful, independent, thorough investigation is conducted with a view to ensuring accountability," said Colville.

Christianity Today reported May 8 that weeks after a military raid on a Christian camp left more than a dozen people dead, Angola had banned nine churches for failing to operate within the law.

Following the April 16 attack on the Light of the World community which is led by former Seventh-day Adventist Jose Kalupeteka.

Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos blamed the "apocalyptic group" for causing social unrest by scaring citizens into believing the world would end in 2015.

The Christianity Today report noted that journalists have been denied access to the scene of the massacre.

The government and the main opposition party have given conflicting reports on the total casualties in the massacre during which Light of the World members shouted "our weapon is the Bible" and "Jesus is our protector" during the siege, according to one account.

Angola's main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), said that 1,080 members of the group were massacred, with helicopter gunships mowing them down.

As a rebel group during the Cold War era, UNITA which has been backed once by China then the United States and South Africa, fought against the Cuban and Soviet-backed ruling MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) party.

The MPLA has ruled the country since it became independent from Portugal in 1975 and the civil war between the rival parties ended in 2002. Dos Santo has been national president since 1979.

The area where the incident took place is near the country's second city of Huambo, which is UNITA's traditional stronghold far to the south-east of the capital, Luanda, and has been cordoned off, The Economist reported May 11.