BANGUI, Central African Republic: French troops were out in force in the Central African Republic’s capital yesterday after clashes that killed at least a dozen civilians, according to an official, and five Chadian peacekeepers.
Chaos gripped Bangui after heavy arms fire on Wednesday, which sent thousands of panicking residents fleeing for shelter at the airport, where French and African peacekeepers are based.
At least 12 people died in the latest wave of violence, an official at Bangui’s main hospital
told AFP. “The Red Cross brought at least a dozen” bodies to the hospital morgue, the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that 46 people had been brought in with knife or gunshot wounds.
Earlier the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, MSF), had counted 36 injured at the hospital since Wednesday evening.
The circumstances of the Chadian deaths in Bangui, which occurred on Wednesday, were unclear, a spokesman for the African Union (AU) force of which they were a part told AFP.
“Yesterday the city was in total chaos and this chaos lasted until the end of the night. Today we are trying to understand what happened,” said Eloi Yao.
The resource-rich but impoverished country has been wracked by escalating violence since a March coup.
AFP
