CAR mosque in Bangui destroyed following church attack

                               

                               

A group of Christian youths in the Central African Republic have sacked a mosque and barricaded streets with burning tyres in the capital, Bangui.

It comes a day after Seleka militias attacked a church in Bangui with guns and grenades, killing several people. The mostly Muslim Seleka rebels have been involved in heavy fighting with mainly Christian fighters in the anti-balaka militia since March 2013.




                              

                             

About a quarter of the CAR's population has been displaced by the conflict. There have been no reports of casualties following the attack on the mosque in Bangui's Lakouanga neighbourhood. One report said that the mosque was empty at the time of the attack.

A spokesman for Bangui's Muslim community, Ousmane Abakar, told AP news agency: "For six months we have been the ones subjected to violence and the destruction of our mosques."

He also condemned Wednesday's attack on the Church of Fatima, but said local Muslims were not responsible for the assault.

Wednesday's attack on the church killed about 15 people. It came after hours of fighting in the PK5 neighbourhood of Bangui. A priest at the church, Jonas Bekas, told the BBC that peacekeeping forces had arrived too late to stop the killings.

"Everybody was running in all directions as they came in the compound and opened fire," he said.
"I called the French and African peacekeepers but the Burundian soldiers arrived too late. All that was left to do was to collect the dead and wounded and bring them in the church."

line A group of Christian youths in the Central African Republic have sacked a mosque and barricaded streets with burning tyres in the capital, Bangui.
It comes a day after Seleka militias attacked a church in Bangui with guns and grenades, killing several people.

The mostly Muslim Seleka rebels have been involved in heavy fighting with mainly Christian fighters in the anti-balaka militia since March 2013.

About a quarter of the CAR's population has been displaced by the conflict.

There have been no reports of casualties following the attack on the mosque in Bangui's Lakouanga neighbourhood. One report said that the mosque was empty at the time of the attack.

A spokesman for Bangui's Muslim community, Ousmane Abakar, told AP news agency: "For six months we have been the ones subjected to violence and the destruction of our mosques."

He also condemned Wednesday's attack on the Church of Fatima, but said local Muslims were not responsible for the assault.

Wednesday's attack on the church killed about 15 people. It came after hours of fighting in the PK5 neighbourhood of Bangui. A priest at the church, Jonas Bekas, told the BBC that peacekeeping forces had arrived too late to stop the killings.

"Everybody was running in all directions as they came in the compound and opened fire," he said.
"I called the French and African peacekeepers but the Burundian soldiers arrived too late. All that was left to do was to collect the dead and wounded and bring them in the church."