Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Clashes Follow Reconciliation Ceremony

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Clashes Follow Reconciliation Ceremony Fresh attacks in the centre and south kill dozens. At least 28 people died and dozens were injured in December 16th clashes between rival militias in the centre of Mbres, about 300km from the capital Bangui, police said on the 18th. The fighting pitted the so‐called anti‐balaka militia formed by the Christian majority against mainly Muslim Séléka rebels who led a March 2013 coup, a police official said, adding that the death toll had been given by the local Red Cross. Both sides blamed each other for causing the violence. A Red Cross official said 70 homes were also burned. The unrest came less than a week after a reconciliation ceremony between ex‐Séléka fighters and anti‐balaka forces was held in Mbres. The official said the fighting sent hundreds of residents fleeing in to the bush on December 17th. On the 18th, the former Séléka rebels were “in control of the centre of the town and imposing their will”. Anti‐balaka forces were “holed up around the edges of the town and in surrounding caves.” In a separate incident, at least 20 people were killed and dozens injured on December 19th in tit‐for‐tat attacks in the central region of Bambari between anti‐balaka on one side and ex‐Séléka and Peul herders on the other, police said. Several homes were also destroyed in those attacks, which sent villagers fleeing into the bush or to Bangui. Bambari clashes earlier in the month also left four people dead and more than a dozen wounded, the UN mission MINUSCA announced. At least a further 18 people were killed and dozens injured in fresh attacks early on December 21st in and around the south‐western towns of Gamboula and Nola, near the border with Cameroon . Armed Peul herders launched attacks in the early morning, killing at least eight people in the Gamboula area and 10 in Nola, a senior official in the local Mambere‐Kadei prefecture told AFP . “Most of the inhabitants were surprised in their sleep by the attackers who also torched dozens of houses,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added. ( © AFP, Bangui 5,18,23/12 2014; BBC News Online 18/12) Séléka protest p. 20355 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Clashes Follow Reconciliation Ceremony

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/central-african-republic-clashes-follow-reconciliation-ceremony-mKQEA8tnUh

References (0)

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2015.06059.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Fresh attacks in the centre and south kill dozens. At least 28 people died and dozens were injured in December 16th clashes between rival militias in the centre of Mbres, about 300km from the capital Bangui, police said on the 18th. The fighting pitted the so‐called anti‐balaka militia formed by the Christian majority against mainly Muslim Séléka rebels who led a March 2013 coup, a police official said, adding that the death toll had been given by the local Red Cross. Both sides blamed each other for causing the violence. A Red Cross official said 70 homes were also burned. The unrest came less than a week after a reconciliation ceremony between ex‐Séléka fighters and anti‐balaka forces was held in Mbres. The official said the fighting sent hundreds of residents fleeing in to the bush on December 17th. On the 18th, the former Séléka rebels were “in control of the centre of the town and imposing their will”. Anti‐balaka forces were “holed up around the edges of the town and in surrounding caves.” In a separate incident, at least 20 people were killed and dozens injured on December 19th in tit‐for‐tat attacks in the central region of Bambari between anti‐balaka on one side and ex‐Séléka and Peul herders on the other, police said. Several homes were also destroyed in those attacks, which sent villagers fleeing into the bush or to Bangui. Bambari clashes earlier in the month also left four people dead and more than a dozen wounded, the UN mission MINUSCA announced. At least a further 18 people were killed and dozens injured in fresh attacks early on December 21st in and around the south‐western towns of Gamboula and Nola, near the border with Cameroon . Armed Peul herders launched attacks in the early morning, killing at least eight people in the Gamboula area and 10 in Nola, a senior official in the local Mambere‐Kadei prefecture told AFP . “Most of the inhabitants were surprised in their sleep by the attackers who also torched dozens of houses,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added. ( © AFP, Bangui 5,18,23/12 2014; BBC News Online 18/12) Séléka protest p. 20355

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesWiley

Published: Jan 1, 2015

There are no references for this article.