singed mud-brick wall, the color of stale mustard, edged with the charcoal darkness of war stands crumbling over the sun-baked earth of Boyali. A few sickly trees, leaves caked in light brown dust and gunpowder, cling to life near the edge of the neighboring village of Bossembele. The bodies of the dead, brutally beaten by the hatred of Anti-Balaka, lay partially hidden in patches of tall golden grass, beads of terror still crystallized in their eyes. Intricately crafted clay pots lay strewn and broken around a grouping of half-burnt branch huts. Shards of the once cherished pottery plunge deep into the cracked earth, like the clubs and machetes that, just days before, smashed the lives of these village's innocent inhabitants.
The ravaged villages and murdered Muslim civilians of Boyali and Bossembele stand as a testament to the savagery and brutality that revenge leads to. Boyali and Bossembele are just two of the many devastated Muslim communities in and around the chaotic and violent city of Bangui, the capital of The Central African Republic (CAR). Over 50 Muslims were killed this brutal attack. Many of them were women, children and elderly people who could not evacuate the town quickly enough to escape the Anti-Balaka rebel forces. (Amnesty.org, 2014)
Attacks like this one, on innocent Muslim communities, began when the Christian president of CAR was ousted by Muslim mercenaries in March of 2013. These Muslims mercenaries waged brutal attacks on the predominantly Christian communities in Bangui, the capital city. (BBC, 2014) In the eyes of the violent Christian rebel group, Anti-Balaka, the actions of the Muslims call for brutal revenge and retaliation upon the entire Muslim population of The Central African Republic.
Cultural Obliteration
By: Laura Kelemen
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