ICC Note: Dozens of people, including a priest, were killed this past week in Southern Central African Republic. The group known as UPC (l’Unité pour la Paix en Centrafrique) conducted the attack. They are a mainly Muslim group who has been fighting with both the Seleka forces and anti-balaka militias.
03/29/2018 CAR (World Watch Monitor) – Dozens, including a Catholic priest, were killed last week as fighting erupted between armed groups in several villages in southern Central African Republic.
Father Joseph Désiré Angbabata, 49, the parish priest of Séko village, near Bambari, lost his life when armed men stormed his village parish of Saint Charles LWANGA on Wednesday, 21 March. He had been planning to move in the coming days due to growing tension in the area.
The assailants are believed to be militants of the UPC (l’Unité pour la Paix en Centrafrique), a predominantly Muslim and Fulani group comprised of fighters who formerly fought for the Séléka rebel group. The UPC has been responsible for numerous massacres and human rights abuses, including the killing of ten Red Cross workers last year in Gambo.
The attack on Séko followed clashes between UPC militants and local vigilantes – known as Anti-balaka (which translates as “Anti-machete”) – a day before in nearby Tagbara, triggered by the murder of an Anti-balaka militiaman by the UPC.
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