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| Africa Subsaharan | |
| C. Africa crowd lynches fleeing Muslim: witnesses | |
| 2014-02-11 | |
| [AFP] A mob lynched a Moslem on Friday after he fell off a crowded lorry driving thousands of frightened civilians out of the strife-torn capital of the Central African Republic. A large convoy of lorries and taxis packed with Moslems fleeing Christian vigilantes headed north from Bangui under a slew of insults from angry residents, locals said. The mob set on the victim after he fell off one of the lorries and hacked to pieces his body, which still lay by the side of the road by late morning, an AFP photographer saw. Armed Christian "anti-balaka" fighters tried to attack a second vehicle in the convoy, but they dispersed when troops from an African peacekeeping force, MISCA, fired warning shots. Moslem Central Africans and foreigners have been fleeing Bangui for several months to escape killings, looting and harassment by armed militias drawn from the Christian majority in the city, in defiance of calls for peace by religious leaders. The lynching comes just two days after uniformed Central African troops attacked a Moslem right after a military ceremony in Bangui, stabbing and stoning him to death. UN envoy to the CAR Boubacar Gaye condemned the climate of impunity that allowed "a man to be attacked in broad daylight and his body desecrated." Defence Minister Thomas-Theophile Timangoa told the country's transitional parliament Thursday that a probe had begun into the lynching and that human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... experts had been asked to help. 'Left to fend for themselves' Thousands of Moslems have been fleeing Bangui in fear for their lives as they face vengeance attacks from Christian militia in a spiralling cycle of religious violence. The violence was sparked after the Seleka rebel group installed Michel Djotodia as the country's first Moslem president in a coup in March 2013. The following months saw rogue Seleka fighters unleash a wave of atrocities against Christians, prompting the emergence of "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) militia who began launching Dire Revenge™ attacks. In Geneva, UN refugee agency spokeswoman Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba said Friday that 8,762 people, have crossed into eastern Cameroon in the past 10 days alone, mainly Moslems "who say they feared for their safety". While many Moslems try to flee Bangui, others seek safety near the capital, abandoning towns and villages in the provinces where they come under attack. Up to 4,000 Moslems have taken refuge at the Bangui airport, near the bases of French and African troops, and hope to leave the country in the next few weeks. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is due in Bangui on February 12, said in an interview Thursday that an extension of the current UN mandate for La Belle France's 1,600-strong contingent was "likely". New interim president Catherine Samba Panza -- who took over in January after Djotodia was forced to resign -- has asked the UN for a full-fledged peacekeeping operation. She said the French and some 5,000 African "forces do not have enough men to reestablish and assure the security of the people". Samba Panza's government faces a massive task in restoring peace, with the territory outside the capital largely lawless and in the hands of warlords. Atrocities, the fear of attack and a lack of food have displaced almost a quarter of the country's population of about 4.6 million, while the UN and relief agencies estimate that at least two million people need humanitarian assistance. "Civilians remain in constant fear for their lives, and have been largely left to fend for themselves," the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Martine Flokstra, said Friday. "In the northwest and in Bangui, we are currently witnessing a direct retaliation against the Moslem minority," she added in a statement. "We are concerned about the fate of these communities trapped in their villages, surrounded by anti-balaka groups and also about the fact that many Moslem families are being forced into exile to survive."
BANGUI, Central African Republic — Polin Pumandele was killed about 9:30 a.m. He was a Christian walking in a Mohammedan enclave, carrying wood to sell. In these tense days, that is enough reason to die in the Central African Republic. A Mohammedan mob confronted Pumandele, 23, on a side street and pushed him around. Then, they threw him into a ditch. At least one man stabbed him before his throat was slit. As the slaughter unfolded, some of his killers ordered a Washington Post journalist witnessing the attack Sunday to leave. “Allez, allez — go, go, ” one yelled, wagging his arms menacingly. Stationed nearby was a group of Burundian peacekeepers, ordered by the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... to protect civilians. But they didn’t know about the killing until some men — perhaps his killers — brought Pumandele’s mutilated body past them in a wheelbarrow. They dumped his body outside the Red Thingy office across from the Burundian base. And just as swiftly, Pumandele was taken to the morgue, adding to the rolls of the dead in Africa’s latest war. At least nine other people were killed Sunday in and around the area where Pumandele died, according to human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... activists and aid agencies. Christians killed Mohammedans. Mohammedans killed Christians. Shops were burned down. Houses were looted. Bodies were burned in streets, in front of African peacekeepers. Some tried to stop the looters; others looked the other way. In all, Sunday’s events were the latest sign of the mayhem in this besieged capital, reeling from one of the worst episodes of sectarian violence on the continent in recent memory. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #6 Obviously the will of Allan. |
| Posted by: Canuckistan sniper 2014-02-11 19:01 |
| #5 ...well, with so many 'enjoying' unemployment, it's a historical pattern. What better way of removing potential threats to your |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-11 15:26 |
| #4 Time to start another crusade? I'm afraid I'm too old for that. You younger guys will have to pick up the slack. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-02-11 14:13 |
| #3 For some reason I feel neither shocked, nor sad. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-02-11 13:44 |
| #2 Thank you for your worldly insight, Paul. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-02-11 09:55 |
| #1 Every religious war is started by Muslims so its time all the rest of the religions get together to kick their butt! |
| Posted by: Paul D 2014-02-11 05:59 |