Zambia President Sata blames EU for conflicts

Zambian President Michael Sata has slammed European countries, blaming them for the ongoing conflicts in Africa, specifically the Central African Republic.

The Zambian president said Europe was guilty of conflicts in African as it manufactures the weapons used in battles in African countries.

Sata also said that most of the poor child soldiers involved in conflicts in Africa were carrying guns made in Europe. Child soldiers do not have funding to buy such weapons, he added.

The Zambian president made the comments after talks ended in Brussels, where he along with leaders from 80 African and European countries discussed the growing violence in the Central African Republic.

Some 8,000 French and African peacekeepers are stationed in the Central African Republic, but they have been unable to stop the ongoing violence in the country and even in some occasions have been accused of killing Muslims.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and more than one million displaced due to the crisis in the Central African Republic over the past few months.

The conflict in the country erupted after Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks on the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which toppled the government last March.

Human rights groups and international bodies have expressed serious concerns over the ongoing violence against Muslims in the country.

The United Nations has described the displacement of the Muslims of the Central African Republic as ethnic-religious cleansing.

According to the United Nations, more than 950,000 people have been displaced in the country, while 82,000 mostly Muslim Central Africans have poured into neighboring countries over the past three months.