Heavy fighting erupts near airport in CAR capital
Iran Press TV
Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:0PM GMT
Violent clashes have reportedly erupted near the airport in the Central African Republic's (CAR) capital, Bangui, after Christian militia attacked a convoy of Muslims being evacuated from the area.
According to local sources, fierce fighting broke out in Bangui on Wednesday when Christian militia, knows as the anti-balaka, attempted to prevent Chadian troops from escorting a convoy of Muslims out of the violence-stricken city, Reuters reported.
Songokoua Yetinzapa, a Bangui resident, said, "I heard several people were killed but I only saw one dead body-- a Muslim who was killed by the anti-balaka."
A UN official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the violence had prevented UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos from making a visit to the northern parts of the CAR.
The Central African Republic has been facing deadly unrest since December last year, when Christian militia launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which toppled the government in March 2013.
Christian militia in the country has been raging violence against Muslims, many of whom have escaped the country to avoid being killed by the militia.
Fierce fighting in the African country reportedly claimed over 1,000 lives and forced about one million people to flee their homes last month.
France deployed 1,600 troops to the CAR in December 2013, after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution giving Paris and the African Union the go-ahead to send troops to the strife-torn country.
However, the deployment of the French and African Union forces has done little to end the ongoing violence in the country.
MKA/AB
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