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Some Members of a Muslim militia have killed at least 16 people in an attack on a church in the Central African Republic, raising fears that ongoing violence could return to the capital city.
Notre Dame of Fatima, a Roman Catholic church in the capital, Bangui, was recently attacked with grenades and gunfire by men allied with a rebel group once known as Seleka, an Islamic faction whose takeover of Bangui five years ago set off the country’s continuing conflict.
Several thousand worshipers were at the church at the time, said an activist who runs a youth program in Bangui. She said The church’s priest, the Rev. Toungoumale Baba, was among those killed.
To protest the violence, a large crowd carried Father Baba’s body to the presidential palace.
The violence comes three weeks after the United Nations troops and national security forces started a security operation in a district known as PK5. The predominantly Muslim neighborhood, near the church attacked.
Reports say 75 percent of the Central Africa Republic was controlled by armed groups.
Violence has been escalating nationwide since February, largely because earlier peace efforts failed to disarm militia groups.
Former Seleka members have also been threatening to march on the capital.
The church attack had set off retaliatory violence in Bangui with “angry mob” attacking several mosques, injured people on the streets, and damaged United Nations vehicles patrolling the city causing injury to a United Nations soldier.
