30 killed in Central African Republic violence
Iran Press TV
Wed Apr 9, 2014 8:35PM GMT
At least 30 people have been killed in the latest attack by mainly Christian militia against Muslims in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Police said on Wednesday that the violence in the central town of Dekoa also wounded ten people.
'Most of the victims were civilians who were hit by stray bullets,' a police source said.
The CAR 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 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.
During a Saturday visit to the CAR capital Bangui, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the country's leaders to prevent a new genocide in the continent similar to the one in Rwanda 20 years ago.
Ban said the country's authorities must avert the recurrence of the atrocities that led to the death of some 800,000 people in Rwanda in 1994.
The UN chief also voiced concern over the ongoing "ethno-religious cleansing" in the CAR and said, "Most members of the Muslim minority have fled" their homes.
"Do not repeat the mistakes of the past -- heed the lessons. The fate of your country is in your hands," he stressed.
Ban has called for a 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping force to be deployed to the former French colony to contain the deadly violence there.
DB/MAM/MHB
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