BANGUI, Central African Republic, Dec 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least 30
people were killed in fighting between militiamen and traders in a restive
district of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, a security
official and a local imam said Thursday.
“Thirty bodies have been brought to the mosque,” said Awad Al Karim, the
imam of the Ali Babolo mosque in a district called PK5 that became a haven
for many Bangui Muslims at the peak of Christian-Muslim clashes in the
country.
A security official, who asked to remain anonymous, also put the number of
dead at at least 30, without providing any further details.
The fighting began after traders in the district took up arms to oppose
taxes levied by militia groups, the imam said.
Bursts of automatic fire and explosions were heard on Wednesday evening and
on Thursday morning, according to an AFP journalist who was in a neighbouring
district.
The head of the African Red Cross, Antoine Mbaobogo, said the toll “stood
at 23 at 4:00 pm but could now be 33,” adding that there were still bodies
near the market.
Neither the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA nor the CAR authorities have been
able to assert control over the PK5 district.
And MINUSCA did not provide any exact toll from the fighting, saying only
there had been “dozens of victims”.
MINUSCA spokesman, Bili Aminou Alao, said a rapid response force had been
sent to the area.
“Part of the market and some vehicles have been burned,” he said.
“Between 40 and 50 shops have been burned down, as well as four or five
houses,” said Patrick Bidilou Niabode, head of the CAR’s civil protection
service.
Voluntary firefighters put out two fires which had been spreading in the
market but were unable to tackle a blaze at two houses because of heavy
gunfire, he added.
– Powder keg –
The CAR is one of the world’s poorest and most volatile countries.
It has been gripped by sporadic violence since 2014, after then-president
Francois Bozize was ousted in a coup.
Fierce fighting then erupted between predominantly Christian and Muslim
militia, prompting the intervention of former colonial power France, under a
UN mandate.
Attempts to broker a lasting peace have repeatedly broken down and most the
country lies in the hands of armed groups, who often fight over the country’s
mineral resources.
The PK5 district is a powder keg. In April 2018, MINUSCA, responding to
appeals by local traders, launched an anti-militia operation named Sukula
(“Clean-up” in the CAR language of Sango).
The operation ended bloodily with the death of about 30 people and a
hundred wounded, sparking a wave of anger among local people.
The CAR’s long conflict has forced nearly a quarter of the country’s 4.7
million people to flee their homes.
The United Nations estimated in September that two thirds of the population
depends on humanitarian aid to survive.
The country is ranked next-to-last after Niger on the 2018 UNDP’s Human
Development Index, which compares longevity, education, and income per
capita. Life expectancy is just 52.9 years.