CAR tipping into bloody anarchy
Bodies rotting in streets
ASSAILANTS armed with heavy weapons tried to attack the presidential palace and the residence of the Central African Republic’s embattled leader, but were pushed back.
Guy Simplice, spokesman for President Michel Djotodia, said there had been heavy fighting near the seat of government, before the army was able to block the aggressors.
Although the attackers could not immediately be identified, for weeks there have been rumours that a Christian militia, believed to be backed by former president, Francois Bozize, ousted by Djotodia in a coup nine months ago, would try to seize back power.
The heavy arms fire could be heard from the five-star Hotel Ledger, near the town centre. A rocket landed on the hotel grounds.
The events are only the latest indicating that this deeply poor, but until recently relatively stable nation, is tipping into anarchy.
Earlier yesterday, interna- tional forces were sent to pick up truckloads of decomposing bodies of slain Muslims, whose remains had been left at a local mosque by their friends and relatives, who were too frightened to be seen burying them in a city where Christian-onMuslim and Muslim-on-Christian attacks have become a daily occurrence.
It also comes a day after the AU lost six peacekeepers, who were attacked in the Gobongo neighborhood of the capital. Their destroyed car, with, at least one body still inside, had not been removed a day later, underscoring how dangerous this country had become, even for the international forces tasked with pacifying it, said AU spokesman Eloi Yao.
As the AU was struggling to secure that crime scene, they discovered another: close to the presidential palace, peacekeepers discovered a mass grave.
“We found around 20 bodies in a state of decomposition in an area that we call Panthers’ Hill. The 20 were scattered in different graves in a small area,” said Yao.
UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, said he was “appalled” by the inter-communal violence, including reports yesterday of dozens more bodies found on the streets of Bangui, and called on the transitional authorities “to rein in those fomenting and perpetrating the violence”, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
The UN chief welcomed appeals for peace by Christian and Muslim leaders.
The Central African Republic has been plunged into chaos, as the country’s Christian majority seeks revenge against the Muslim rebels who seized power in a coup in March.
Caught in the middle are civilians, both Christians and Muslims, who are now bearing the brunt of collective punishment. Militiamen have been seen desecrating the corpses of their victims. Christian fighters known as anti-Balaka were seen brandishing the severed penis of one dead man, and the hacked-off foot of another. Unclaimed bodies left to rot were found missing their genitals.
The UN estimates that 639 000 people out of a population of 4.5 million have been forced to flee their homes. Altogether 2 million people need humanitarian aid – almost half the country. – Sapa-AP