Three ex-Rebels Killed in Bangui Drive-By Shooting
Gunmen killed three former rebels in a drive-by shooting on Saturday in the capital of the Central African Republic, a security source said, adding that a fourth person was seriously injured.
The minority Muslim victims were riding in a taxi when they were shot and killed by gunmen in another vehicle, the source said.
The driver of the taxi, who was unharmed, said he had picked up the former members of the Seleka rebel movement at a camp where they had been billeted and were headed to a mainly Muslim district of Bangui.
The impoverished country was thrown into chaos nearly a year ago after rebels from the mainly Muslim Seleka group seized power in a coup, after which some mounted a campaign of abuses, prompting the formation of Christian-dominated vigilante groups.
The vigilantes are known as 'anti-balaka' which means machete as it was the Seleka rebels' weapon of choice.
Michel Djotodia, the Seleka leader who became the country's first Muslim president, was forced to quit in January but the self-defense groups have in turn escaped the control of the authorities and are continuing to commit atrocities in the ongoing sectarian conflict.
Also Saturday, a paramilitary police source said that African peacekeepers had engaged in a gunfight with anti-balaka militiamen in a mining hub in the southwest of the country.
"Clashes occurred Friday in Berberati between the anti-balaka (militia) and MISCA," a gendarmerie source told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity, referring to the African peacekeeping force.
He did not give a casualty toll other than noting that the town's anti-balaka chief suffered fractures in both legs during the firefight.
The source said the anti-balaka militiamen had refused to hand over their weapons under a major disarmament drive begun two weeks ago.
"They tried to mount an armed resistance and that sparked a confrontation," the source said. "Heavy gunfire was heard, causing panic among the residents."
The gunbattle coincided with a visit to the CAR by French President Francois Hollande, who warned against the partition of the country, which is mainly Christian, with Muslims concentrated in the north.
The gendarmerie source said that at least 17 Muslims had been killed in Berberati since the militiamen entered the city in early February.
Nearly a quarter of the 4.6-million population has been displaced since the start of the conflict in the former French colony with a long history of coups, attempted coups and army mutinies.
Some 400,000 residents of Bangui -- half its population -- have fled their homes for makeshift camps.
The scale of the atrocities is unknown as much of the country the size of France is beyond central control, with peacekeepers -- 6,000 African and 2,000 French -- mainly concentrated in the capital.
Source: Agence France Presse
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