A further seven people were maimed when violence erupted
Saturday in the PK-5 district of Bangui between Christian militia and Moslem groups, said an officer with the African Union...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
military force known as MISCA.
"The festivities erupted in several places at once, causing international forces to intervene to stop the hostilities," said the officer.
A French military source confirmed the violence, saying: "Our men were attacked and fought back."
Businesses in Bangui's mostly Moslem PK-5 district have been targeted for weeks by looters and the mainly Christian militia known as "anti-balaka", or anti-machete.
The Central African Republic was plunged into chaos by a March 2013 coup that ousted president Francois Bozize, sparking a cycle of Dire Revenge™ attacks between the Moslem minority and Christian majority.
The violence has killed thousands and displaced around a quarter of the impoverished country's 4.6 million people, and the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
is investigating genocide allegations.
The U.N.'s rights chief on Thursday expressed horror at the level of violence in the Central African Republic, citing cannibalism, child decapitations and gruesome lynchings.
French forces Thursday reported festivities with anti-balaka fighters in Bangui and on the main route that connects the capital to the border with Cameroon.
Staff Colonel Gilles Jaron said local rebel groups had become more hardline in recent weeks, "which probably reflects the impact of French and MISCA peacekeeping forces in areas where they are implanted."