The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
– ‘Ceasefire now’ –
The bloodshed prompted urgent calls from the UN for an immediate halt to the violence.
“It is vital that the cease-fire agreed upon by the parties comes into force immediately to free the populations and the many regions of the country that are still suffering from armed violence,” said Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the UN’s special representative in Central Africa.
“This violence has also forced more than 100,000 people to flee inside the country and more than 20,000 others to seek refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said, referring to the overall effect of unrest across CAR since mid-May.
“The total number of internally displaced persons has therefore surpassed the 500,000 mark.”
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch on Wednesday released a report highlighting the plight of people with disabilities in CAR, saying they had faced violent attacks and were especially vulnerable while trying to flee.
One of the world’s poorest nations, CAR has been struggling to recover from a civil war between Muslim and Christian militias that started in 2013 when President Francois Bozize was overthrown by a coalition of Muslim-majority rebel groups called the Seleka.
Christians, who account for about 80 percent of the population, then sought revenge by organising vigilante units dubbed “anti-balaka”, in reference to the machetes used by the rebels.
In 2014, the Seleka were ousted by a military intervention led by former colonial ruler France, triggering the bloodiest sectarian violence in the country’s history.
