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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Peacekeeping force declares war on C.Africa vigilantes |
| 2014-03-27 |
| [Al Ahram] The African peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic declared war on the majority-Christian vigilante groups known as "anti-balaka" on Wednesday after a fresh outbreak of deadly violence in the capital Bangui. The head of the MISCA force blamed the groups for recent attacks on peacekeepers in the former French colony, and said they would be treated as "enemies". "From now on, we consider the anti-balaka as enemies of MISCA," Congolese General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko said in remarks carried by a private radio station. "And we will treat them as such." "They even fire on people who are here to try to end this crisis on behalf of the Central African people to which they belong," the general said. "We hold them responsible for attacks that have targeted our troops in recent days." Around 20 people have died in festivities involving gangs and foreign peacekeepers since Saturday in Bangui, where security is tight ahead of the first anniversary of the toppling of Francois Bozize by majority-Moslem Seleka rebels. Around 6,000 African peacekeepers are working alongside nearly 2,000 French troops to disarm both sides after a year of inter-religious violence sparked by the coup in the impoverished majority-Christian nation. The so-called "anti-balaka" militias were formed in response to killing and pillaging by the Seleka rebels who went rogue after the coup. Anti-balaka means "anti-machete" in the local Sango language and refers to the weapon of choice wielded by the Seleka -- but also taken up by the vigilantes. Thousands have been killed and around a quarter of the country's 4.6 million people -- most of them Moslems -- displaced. ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... did not act soon to send troops to contain the escalating violence. "The EU's immediate deployment of troops is literally a life-and-death decision," said Central Africa researcher Christian Mukosa in a statement. |
| Posted by:Fred |