hroughout 2013 violent attacks against Muslim and Christian citizens have begun in the Central African Republic. Roughly a year ago, a Muslim group called Seleka attacked the central government, eventually causing the christian president, Francois Bozize to leave the country. Starting in late March, many Christians were killed, raped, and tortured by Seleka. This started the outrage against and mass killings of Muslims in the CAR and surrounding countries. The two religious groups have started many militias and smaller military groups such as Seleka and Anti-Balaka who have been killing people, burning mosques, and destroying businesses. Even if a persons name has Muslim origins, they will be targeted. The crossfire between the two clans have been tearing apart villages that shouldn't be affected. These kinds of facts make it even more surprising that many Muslims feel that they must stay in the country because of their family heritage. Although, over 400,000 Christians and thousands of muslims (the minority) have left the country. Over 500,000 Muslims are homeless in the capital, Bangui. Refugees are staying at airports, churches, and other religious areas, as well as leaving for Chad, Cameroon, DRC, and Republic of the Congo.
Last Saturday, the Afghan Taliban made a statement condemning the “merciless killings” of Muslims in the CAR. This statement was heard and echoed by their North African branch who condemned the “ethnic and sectarian cleansing.” They blamed French peacekeepers for stirring up the conflict and making it worse, even though getting the North African branch involved in the first place was a bad decision by the Taliban. That decision will only cause even more internal conflicts between anti-balaka and the Taliban. This is only one of the many problems that are happening right now. (Vinograd, 2014) Due to the racial conflicts, many meat imports come for Nomadic Chadians Herders, who have fled to escape death. This has caused the price of meat, and many other goods, to sky rocket and put thousands of people without food. Aid from foreign countries is not getting properly distributed due to security issues at the airport where it is being dropped off. (IRIN, 2014)
More Involvment, More Conflict
By Duncan Grubbs
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