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At Least 50 Killed by Armed Men in C. Africa
 [AnNahar] At least 50 people have been killed and dozens more injured since Tuesday after gunnies attacked three villages in the central Bambari region of the Central African Republic, local residents who fled their homes told AFP.Prosper Tchoulekrayo, who beat feet from Yasseneme village, said the attackers had "fired indiscriminately on the inhabitants". "The provisional toll of the attacks in the Agoudou Manga, Yasseneme and Ngouyanza is at least 50 dead. Dozens more have been injured," said Isaac Arata-Naba, an Agoudou Manga resident. Tchoulekrayo said the attacks were staged by members of the UPC, a faction of the former rebel and mainly Moslem Seleka ...a 'mainly' Moslem rebel force in the Central African Republic that overthrew the govt, imposed a regime of rapine and looting on the country's non-Moslem population, and was then tossed by France. They still exist, getting funding and weapons from somewhere or other, licking their wounds, complaining about the oppression of Moslems, and occasionally raping and looting someone... movement "which is continuing to stage reprisal attacks against natives." But a UPC (Unity of Central African People) source denied the group was involved in the latest attacks. The source said a rival Seleka faction called the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic had raided the villages, adding that they were targeting UPC positions. One of the world's poorest nations, the Central African Republic has been struggling to recover from a three-year civil war between the Moslem and Christian militias that started in 2013. President Faustin-Archange Touadera took office in March 2016 with a mandate to lead a transition to peace but much of the country remains under the control of gangs. Deadly festivities between rival factions have regularly broken out near the central town of Bambari, where a contingent of the U.N. peacekeeping force is based. The fighting is linked to the control of lucrative mines in the mineral-rich country and racketeering. An independent U.N. expert on Central Africa, Marie-Therese Keita-Bocoum, had in February deplored that "gangs have taken over more than 60 percent of the country." Posted by: trailing wife 2017-03-25 |
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