Central African Republic still rife with conflict a year after ceasefire

More than a year after warring factions reached a cease-fire agreement, Central African Republic (CAR) remains divided, unstable, violent, and on the edge of becoming a “failed state.”

Last week, Seleka rebels and a group calling itself Revolution-Justice killed 26 people while fighting over the town of Markounda, Bloomberg reported.

The fighting that began in 2013 has killed more than 6,000 people and left 2.7 million in need of aid, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). About 400,000 people are internally displaced, according to Refugees International, and more than a thousand people are still searching for family members, the International Committee of the Red Cross recently announced.

“The state has collapsed,” IRC warned on July 21. “Armed groups rule the countryside, challenging each other and the shaky Transitional Government based in the capital, Bangui. The national army and police force are under-equipped, lack training, and cannot ensure the population’s safety. Needs created by ongoing insecurity continue to outpace humanitarian efforts …”

The justice system is also “in shambles” in rural areas, according to France 24. UN and international forces helped restore order to major cities, but many regions, especially rural ones, remain unprotected, according to World Watch Monitor (WWM).

Christians are suffering in various parts of the country, including the town of Kaga Bandoro, where they feel imprisoned by threats and acts of violence from Fulani herdsmen who joined the Seleka rebellion, WWM reported.

Muslims are suffering too, according to a new report by Amnesty International. The human rights group said Muslims who fled during a wave of “ethnic cleansing” in early 2014 and since returned are being oppressed in regions controlled by anti-Balaka militia forces.

The conflict began as a political struggle when the majority-Muslim coalition known as Seleka overthrew CAR President Francois Bozize in 2013. After Seleka rebels looted, killed, and committed other atrocities against Christians, an opposing militia group known as anti-Balaka (anti-machete) formed from majority Christian regions.

Anti-Balaka committed indiscriminate retaliatory violence against Muslims and often has been identified as Christian, even though Christian leaders in CAR insist it’s not. They have spoken out against the violence and tried to bring peace between religious groups. Three particular religious leaders, two Christian and one Muslim, were called “the three saints of Bangui,” by a French magazine because of their condemnation of religious extremism and efforts to promote peace, WWM reported.

“It’s really tough to think in these terms because obviously Christianity is not in keeping with violence or slaughtering anybody, including Muslims,” said Troy Augustine of International Christian Concern. “But you have militia groups who may identify as Christian nominally, but they are not following Christ.”

CAR church leaders insist the inaccurate portrayal of the country’s conflict “propagated by national and international media has given a religious connotation to a crisis that is in its core political and military.”