At Least 10 Killed in C. Africa Clashes
At least 10 people were killed in fresh clashes Wednesday in the conflict-riven Central African Republic capital, witnesses said, just two days after new leader Catherine Samba-Panza appealed for peace.
Violence pitting civilians and Christian militiamen against ex-Seleka fighters broke out overnight in central Bangui, near a prison and a military barracks housing the former rebels, they told Agence France Presse.
Witnesses who asked not to be named said they saw the bodies of six former fighters and four Christian civilians near the prison building.
The mainly Muslim Seleka were the leaders of the March 2013 coup that overthrew the government and installed their leader as the country's first Muslim president, triggering a descent into chaos.
"Four ex-Seleka from the prison were killed by anti-balaka (anti-machete)," said a Western diplomat after the clashes, referring to the Christian self-defense militias set up to avenge Seleka violence.
Medics from the 1,600-strong French peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic tried in vain to save the life of one former Seleka fighter with extensive machete wounds.
An AFP journalist witnessed a crowd of more than 100 Christians celebrate the man's death.
Tensions in the area around the Seleka camp remained high on Wednesday afternoon, after African and French peacekeepers intervened, local residents said.
Soldiers with the 4,400-strong African force MISCA were also forced to intervene Wednesday to stop looting in the north of Bangui.
The latest unrest in the capital, where 1,000 people were reportedly killed last month alone in clashes between Christian and Muslim militias, comes just 48 hours after Samba-Panza's election as interim president.
In her victory speech, Samba-Panza called for an end to violence by the Seleka ex-rebels and anti-balaka militia.
She replaced former president Michel Djotodia, who stood down under intense regional pressure over his failure to stem 10 months of violence that has displaced a fifth of the country's 4.6 million people.
Looking to restore a functioning state and heal religious hatred Samba-Panza, who will be sworn in on Thursday, has made clear that her priority is to restore peace.
"We have thousands of armed youths, both with the Seleka and the anti-balaka. If we release them onto the street, we will not have solved the problem," she said Tuesday.
Samba-Panza said the new government would have to find ways to provide new opportunities for young people in the resource-rich but desperately poor country.
"It is often out of anger, in extreme poverty and with no future, that these young people resort to violent behavior," she said.
On Monday EU foreign ministers agreed to send hundreds of troops to the country to back up the French and African troops already on the ground.
Source: Agence France Presse
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