Wounds Remain Raw In Central African Republic

Sectarian violence continues despite high hopes for new government.

- Edouard Dropsy

The Central African Republic’s new government is struggling to bring an end to three years of war and sectarian violence, its authority undermined by continuing attacks on civilians by the rival mainly Muslim Séléka and Christian anti-Balaka militias.

Six months after Faustin-Archange Touadéra became the country’s first democratically elected president in three years, his plans for security sector reform, reconciliation, and the reintegration of armed groups into society have been undermined by a steady rate of bloodletting.

On October 12, Séléka rebels – part of an alliance of northern insurgent groups – killed 30 in an attack on a camp for displaced people in the central town of Kaga-Bandoro.

The rebels stabbed and hacked to death people in the camp who had already been made homeless by previous violence, in what local media reported as retaliation for the murder of four young Muslims in the town.

UN peacekeepers based in KagaBandoro shot dead 12 of the attackers.

Last month, the same group of rebels raided the village of Ndomete, 15 km from Kaga-Bandoro, killing at least six people.

Fading hope

Despite high hopes following the election of Touadéra, CAR remains a deeply divided nation, with government authority contested across large sections of this mineral-rich but profoundly poor country.

Séléka fought their way to the capital of Bangui in 2013, staging a coup that led to the establishment of an interim administration.