In the Central African Republic there is a growing conflict with the Muslims and the “anti-balaka”. The “anti balaka” are a terrorist group who have been killing Muslims in mass numbers throughout all of the Central African Republic. In the capital, Bangui, all of the Muslims have either fled or taken refuge in an area known as Kilometre 5 to protect their possessions. Most of the women and children have left, leaving mostly Muslim men to stand their ground without any weapons and only the grace of god protecting them. Every day they fear that they could be killed for their religious beliefs. (BBC News, 2014)
In the Central African Republic, Muslims are being killed for being just that, Muslim. The violence against Muslims is mostly done by thugs who call themselves the “anti-balaka”. They create hit lists with people who have names like Mohammed, Ousmane or Ibrahim, believing they are Muslim. (BBC News, 2014)
Muslims own most of the businesses in Bangui. They fear that their businesses may be ransacked and they will be killed by the terrorist group. They have vacated most if not all of the shops because of this fear. A lot of Muslims have fled to bordering countries for fear of being killed because of their religious beliefs.
Most of the people who have fled have been women and their children while the men have stayed home to protect their possessions and their neighborhoods. “If they want to kill us in Kilometre 5, our neighborhood, so be it - we have no weapons but are ready to accept our fate because we believe in God and we are confident that God will protect us.” said by a Bangui imam.(BBC News, 2014)
The Muslims in Kilometre 5 see French troops patrolling the main streets outside of the compound. They don’t enter for fear of the “anti-balaka”. “We are alive only by the grace of god”.(BBC News, 2014)
Source:
"'I'll Be Last Muslim in CAR'" BBC News. N.p., 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.