Christian looters run away after raiding a Muslim area of the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui. (file photo)
Nearly two dozen people, mostly civilians, have lost their lives in recent clashes in the Central African Republic (CAR).
The clashes broke out between Christian militias and Muslims earlier this week in Grimari, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of the capital Bangui.
“There are 22 dead, four of whom were women killed by stray bullets,” Michel Sefionam, the head of Grimari’s medical center and a member of the local Red Cross, said on Wednesday.
“There were five Seleka and two ‘anti-Balaka’ killed. Most of the (other) people killed were civilians,” Sefionam said.
There are conflicting reports on the origin and outcome of the fighting.
The CAR has been facing deadly unrest since December last year, when Christian militias launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group that toppled the government in March 2013.
Christian militia men in the country have been raging violence against Muslims, many of whom have escaped the country.
French and African peacekeepers are on the ground in the country, but they have been unable to stop the violence and even in some occasions have been accused of killing Muslims.
On April 11, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed extreme concern over reports of Christian militiamen in the CAR attacking civilians fleeing the violence.
UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the agency had registered four wounded refugees in Cameroon in the past days.
The anti-Balaka groups were reportedly blocking main roads and attacking civilians trying to flee the violence in the CAR, forcing them to take more dangerous alternative routes across the border.
On April 10, UN officials said that nearly 15,000 Muslim residents had been besieged in Bangui by Christian militias amid their persisting trail of killing and looting of more Muslims.
The government has acknowledged that it can do little to protect Muslims still in danger, with many questioning whether international troops could fight off a separatist attempt by armed groups.
DB/MAM/MHB
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