NDOMETE, Central African Republic — Muslim militants slaughtered 26 civilians in a predominantly Christian village in the Central African Republic on Sept. 16, the worst violence in the embattled country in months, sources said.
Rebels from the former Seleka group attacked the village of Ndomete, about 220 miles north of the capital city of Bangui, in the evening and went door-to-door killing Christians, said a source in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fighting between Seleka, which officially disbanded in 2013, and Christian “anti-Balaka” militias has increased in the past year, but government and United Nations officials said the attack targeted civilians. Violence between Muslim and Christian militias hit nearby Kaga-Bandoro, where the Central African Republic’s U.N. peacekeeping mission reportedly quelled the violence recently, but an area Christian leader cast doubt on the country’s ability to bring order.
“If the government is not going to beef up the security, then we are going to defend ourselves,” he said. “We shall not keep quiet as our brothers are dying.” (MS)
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