At least 21 people, including children and a soldier, were killed by rebels during attacks targeting a security outpost and a village in northern Central African Republic, according to local authorities.
“The rebels first attacked the army checkpoints, killing one person and wounding several others, before attacking the civilian population, killing about 20 people,” Ernest Bonang, a federal lawmaker who represents Nzakoundou, the village attacked Thursday.
The assailants burned down houses in the village, which has been “emptied of its population,” Bonang said.
Mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced intercommunal fighting since 2013.
Families homeless
The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping mission in the country, estimates the fighting has killed thousands and displaced over a million people, one-fifth of the country’s population.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack but many militia groups operate in northern CAR.
“The rebels have once again turned my town into a bloodbath,” Josephine Helari, the mayor of Ndim, said. “Today, many families are homeless and forced to leave their homes because their homes were burned down.”
Helari also urged authorities to do more to end the violence in northern CAR where rebels have defied security measures and efforts introduced under President Faustin Archange Touade.
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