UN concerned over escalation of violence in CAR

By Felix Nkambeh Tih

ANKARA

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday expressed a deep concern over escalation of violence against civilians and UN peacekeepers in Central African Republic.

''Violence and rising tensions are spreading to areas of the Central African Republic that had previously been spared the kinds of terrifying violence seen in some other parts of the country – this is highly worrying and should set off loud alarm bells,'' Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

On May 12 and 13, anti-Balaka militiamen attacked and killed dozens of civilians in Bangassou, southeastern CAR. The attack targeted in particular Muslims, according to the UN mission in the country.

Last week militiamen attacked a UN convoy in CAR that killed six UN peacekeepers and injured several others.

Besides these two incidents, the statement said, at least 121 civilians have been killed in CAR between March and May 2017.

On Sunday, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "outraged" by the suspected anti-Balaka attacks against civilians and the UN's multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (MINUSCA) May 12 and 13.

''These attacks led to significant population displacement, an undetermined number of civilian casualties and the death of one Moroccan peacekeeper, bringing to six the number of peacekeepers killed in the Central African Republic this week,'' the statement said.

Since 2013, thousands of people have been killed due to violence between pro-Christian and pro-Muslim militiamen. Thousands others have fled their homes to seek refuge in neighboring countries – including Cameroon and Chad.

Almost half of the population of the central African state depends on humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs.