More than 500 dead since Thursday – 108,000 new refugees – 6,000 child soldiers

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns about a further escalation of violence in the Central African Republic. In Bangui, the capital city, dozens of shops belonging to members of the Muslim minority were looted on Monday and Tuesday. Enraged Christians even ransacked a mosque in the fourth district. From their point of view, the Muslim population in general is responsible for the acts of violence committed by the Seleka militias. "We are deeply concerned about the increasing cycle of violence. The situation is getting out of hand," said the STP's Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Wednesday.

In the Central African Republic, Christians and Muslims alike become victims of indiscriminate violence. Since Thursday, more than 500 people got killed in and around Bangui when militias attacked residential areas or in the clashes between the Seleka fighters and the "Anti-Balaka" militia and other insurgent groups. The International Committee of the Red Cross alone recovered 461 corpses, but humanitarian workers reported about even more victims. Most of the victims are civilians who were randomly dragged from their homes and shot.

According to the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 108,000 people have fled from their homes in the area of Bangui since Thursday. Many have sought refuge in churches, mosques, public buildings and at the airport. Thus, the number of IDPs in the Central African Republic has increased to 523,000 people – from a total population of only 4.6 million people.

"We are especially concerned about the fact that the number of child soldiers among the ranks of about 25,000 Seleka fighters is increasing," said Delius. According to government estimates, the Seleka forces – who have now officially broken up – had recruited about 6,000 child soldiers just recently. "According to eyewitness reports, these child soldiers tend to be especially brutal, because they are often under the influence of drugs and therefore absolutely unpredictable in their actions," said Delius. "This is also a big problem for the French troops, who are trying to intervene in the Central African Republic and to disarm the child soldiers in order to stop the violence."