A few updates on the conflicts in Mali and Central Africa Republic.
Mali
3/22 – Economist – Hurry up, or it’ll be too late – Only now (March ’14) is there a second negotiation session between the government and all the factions. The new president, according to the article, has backed away from his conciliatory promises and made many new demands. In the meantime, armed rebel groups in the north are recruiting, rebuilding, and rearming. Count of French troops is dropping and UN troops are at half the expected strength. Progress, but not much.
Central Africa Republic
3/29 – Bismarck Tribune – C. African Republic grenade attack kills 9 people – Grenade tossed into funeral procession killed 9 with another 2 dying in the subsequent fight. Suspects are Muslim rebels. I’m sure this incident is payback for the last incident and will be used as rationalization for the another payback.
Note: I’m confident I missed many stories between the two I mention which tells of Christians killing Muslims. It isn’t an oversight – nothing jumped out at me between 3/29 and 4/28 addressing a specific incident.
4/28 – The Feed (previously Via Meadia) – 16 Dead in CAR Hospital Shooting – A MSF hospital was shot up, with 16 fatalities, including 3 MSF staff. MSF asserts the shooters were Seleka rebels, who are Muslim. The tragic tit-for-tat continues. The Feed expects to see this type of horrible violence to continue. Sadly, I agree.
5/3 – Economist – No one at the wheel – Article suggests nobody has control over the country and each player has control over a sliver. The brutes in the country who follow the Muslim faith are called Seleka. The brutes in the country who follow the Christian faith are called anti-Balaka. The story of a small village, Boda, tells the sad story of what retributions to do a place:
Séléka fighters in Boda sacked the Christian side of the town in January, but left the Muslim quarter standing. Then the Christians retaliated, killing 70 Muslims in a week and chasing hundreds of others into the bush. Both communities in Boda now live in misery.
By ‘sacked’, the article explains a few sentences later that the Christian side is all smoldering ruble. First one side of the village is destroyed with many deaths and much fear. Then for payback the same happens to the other side of the village. Tragic.
The article says there is talk of partitioning the country. The Muslims would take the north and east parts while the Christians would get the south and west.
In the meantime, everyone in Boda will have all the rationalization they need to kill those horrible (pick from multiple choice answers) on the other side of town when they get the chance.