BANGUI
By Hassan Isilow
Cries and screams fill the wards of the pediatric hospital in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), where dozens of children are being treated from wounds sustained during the ongoing sectarian conflict or from malnutrition.
"It’s very sad that militants are continuously targetingchildren in this conflict," Dr. Jean Chrsostome Gody, a pedestrian working at the hospital, told Anadolu Agency in an interview.
He asserted that over 30 children, some with bullet wounds in the head and the back and others injured in grenade attacks, were being treated at the hospital, which is supported by UNICEF.
"How on earth can you shoot at a child?" Dr. Gody asked bitterly.
"I want you to show these pictures and shame the militants who are targeting innocent children," he said.
UNICEF has recently lamented that attacks against childrenhad sunk to a vicious new low, with at least two childrenbeheaded and one of them mutilated.
"We are witnessing unprecedented levels of violence against children," Souleymane Diabate, a UNICEF representative in CAR, said in a recent press statement.
"More and more children are being recruited into armed groups, and they are also being directly targeted in atrocious revenge attacks," he added.
CAR, a landlocked, mineral-rich country, descended into anarchy in March, when Seleka rebels – said to be mostly Muslim – ousted Christian president François Bozize, who had come to power in a 2003 coup.
The country has since been plagued by tit-for-tat sectarian violence between self-styled Christian militias known as "anti-balaka" and former seleka fighters.
-Malnourished-
In one of the wards, a woman was breastfeeding her child, who was hit by a bullet in the head.
"He is in so much pain," the mother, who only identified herself as Fatimah, told AA.
"He cries all the time, but thanks to the doctors we are getting treatment," she added.
When asked when and how her child was shot at, Fatimah shook her head and refused to divulge any details as tears filled her eyes.
Doctors say most of the parents at the hospital are too afraid to reveal details to the media of what happened to their children because they could be targeted again.
There are, meanwhile, nearly 90 other children being treated of malnutrition at the same hospital.
A special tent has been erected with beds where several emaciated children were being given nutritious foods.
"Because of the conflict most parents are afraid of bringing their malnourished children to the hospital," said Dr. Gody.
He blamed the malnutrition for the high child mortality in the country, although he did not give specific figures.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
