KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — U.N. officials say they’re investigating reports that some 700 Congolese women were raped by soldiers from neighboring Angola.

Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the U.N.’s humanitarian agency, says the women were among a group of some 7,000 Congolese expelled from Angola in October. He says the U.N. has called on both nations to investigate.

U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Celine Schmitt says U.N. agencies will launch an investigation this month.

The allegations follow a report last week in which the U.N. said at least 30 women were imprisoned, gang-raped and left in the bush along the border without their clothes.

Congolese frequently cross Angola’s border to work as laborers in the mining districts between the two Central African nations.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.