Machinegun and heavy weapons fire rang out in
Central African Republic’s capital Bangui overnight
into Thursday morning, witnesses told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear who was involved in
the clashes but they follow days of escalating
violence between the city’s Muslim and Christian
communities that have been driven apart by two
years of conflict.
A Reuters witness said he could hear the sound of
mortar fire coming from the KM-5 neighbourhood
and the streets emptied as people fled fighting.
An international aid worker said she had been told
to stay at home.
“Clashes are going on in Castor and around that
area,” the aid worker told Reuters, referring to a
part of Bangui. There were reports of ‘anti-Balaka’
militia stopping people in the streets and checking
people’s papers, “she added.
The mainly Christian “anti-balaka” militia, which
emerged when mainly Muslim rebels were briefly in
power last year, had called on Interim President
Samba Panza to step down.
There was no immediate comment on the violence
from the government, the French or United Nations
peacekeeping forces.
But the U.N. mission issued a statement late on
Wednesday calling for dialogue between the various
political actors. It condemned the deaths, injuries
and acts of violence but gave no further details.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
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