Curfew declared in CAR capital Bangui after two days of deadly clashes
Curfew declared in CAR capital Bangui after two days of deadly clashes
France24, 28 Sep 2015
URL: http://www.france24.com/en/20150927-curfew-declared-car-capital-bangui-after-two-days-deadly-clashes
Officials in the Central African Republic (CAR) declared a curfew in the capital, Bangui, on Sunday after two days of sectarian clashes that left at least 36 people dead and scores more injured.
Armed Christian militia members roamed the streets and protesters erected barricades on Sunday, a day after deadly inter-religious clashes erupted in CAR's restive capital, witnesses said.
The fighting was reportedly triggered by the murder of a Muslim man, whose body was dumped near a mosque late on Friday.
The clashes were the worst this year in the city, where UN peacekeepers and French troops are meant to ensure security. The government blamed them on individuals seeking to derail elections planned for next month.
Soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSCA, fired tear gas at crowds on Sunday as youths used tree trunks to block Bangui's main arteries.
Witnesses reported hearing sporadic gunfire in parts of the city and saw homes and shops being looted.
"Enough is enough. We want (President Catherine) Samba-Panza to go. Since she's been there the Muslims kill with impunity. She's doing nothing to disarm them," said one protester who declined to give his name.
Elections loom
Thousands of Central Africans have died and hundreds of thousands remain displaced after two years of violence that erupted after mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the majority Christian country in 2013.
Seleka abuses sparked reprisals by Christian "anti-balaka" militias that drove most Muslims from the south in a de facto partition of the country.
Protesters alleged UN and French forces did little to intervene in Saturday's violence and called for the sidelined Central African army, the FACA, to assume responsibility for security.
"We are calling for a civil disobedience movement starting now and we demand the immediate redeployment, without conditions, of the FACA," civil society leader Gervais Lakossa told Reuters.
Anti-balaka fighters armed with assault rifles and machetes were seen on Bangui's streets on Sunday as many city residents fled their homes for protected displacement camps.
"The government asks the population not to cede to the manipulation of extremists who are seeking to set the country on fire to satisfy their selfish political ambitions," Security Minister Dominique Said Paguindji said on state radio.
Voters are due to elect a new president and parliament on Oct. 18 to replace an interim government led by Samba-Panza. Despite lagging preparations and the renewed violence in the capital, Paguindji said the polls would go ahead as scheduled.
Armed Christian militia members roamed the streets and protesters erected barricades on Sunday, a day after deadly inter-religious clashes erupted in CAR's restive capital, witnesses said.
The fighting was reportedly triggered by the murder of a Muslim man, whose body was dumped near a mosque late on Friday.
The clashes were the worst this year in the city, where UN peacekeepers and French troops are meant to ensure security. The government blamed them on individuals seeking to derail elections planned for next month.
Soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSCA, fired tear gas at crowds on Sunday as youths used tree trunks to block Bangui's main arteries.
Witnesses reported hearing sporadic gunfire in parts of the city and saw homes and shops being looted.
"Enough is enough. We want (President Catherine) Samba-Panza to go. Since she's been there the Muslims kill with impunity. She's doing nothing to disarm them," said one protester who declined to give his name.
Elections loom
Thousands of Central Africans have died and hundreds of thousands remain displaced after two years of violence that erupted after mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the majority Christian country in 2013.
Seleka abuses sparked reprisals by Christian "anti-balaka" militias that drove most Muslims from the south in a de facto partition of the country.
Protesters alleged UN and French forces did little to intervene in Saturday's violence and called for the sidelined Central African army, the FACA, to assume responsibility for security.
"We are calling for a civil disobedience movement starting now and we demand the immediate redeployment, without conditions, of the FACA," civil society leader Gervais Lakossa told Reuters.
Anti-balaka fighters armed with assault rifles and machetes were seen on Bangui's streets on Sunday as many city residents fled their homes for protected displacement camps.
"The government asks the population not to cede to the manipulation of extremists who are seeking to set the country on fire to satisfy their selfish political ambitions," Security Minister Dominique Said Paguindji said on state radio.
Voters are due to elect a new president and parliament on Oct. 18 to replace an interim government led by Samba-Panza. Despite lagging preparations and the renewed violence in the capital, Paguindji said the polls would go ahead as scheduled.