Nearly 70 killed in Central African Republic since last week

Nearly 70 people have been killed and dozens others injured during sectarian violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) since last week.

The first incident took place on Sunday when at least 18 people were killed in and around the southwestern border towns of Gamboula and Nola, near Cameroon, officials said on Tuesday.

“Most of the inhabitants were surprised in their sleep by the attackers who also torched dozens of houses,” a senior official said.

Many people, including the injured, had managed to escape the area to the east and north, he added.

In another incident on December 19, anti-balaka militias, formed by the Christian majority, launched an attack against former rebels of the largely-Muslim Seleka alliance in the central region of Bambari, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens others.

In a similar confrontation, a further 28 people were killed in clashes in the central area of Mbres last week.

The Central African Republic descended into chaos last December, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the Seleka group, which had toppled the government in March 2013.

Despite the presence of some 8,000 UN and 2,000 French peacekeepers in the CAR, the conflict, which has killed thousands and displaced about a million people, has not been resolved.