Ethnic cleansing' of CAR Muslims

'Ethnic cleansing' of CAR Muslims
Updated 17 minutes ago

Militias have been attacking Muslim civilians
International peacekeepers have failed to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the Central African Republic, a human rights group says.

Militia attacks have led to a "Muslim exodus of historic proportions", according to a report by Amnesty International.

Aid groups have warned of a food crisis, as many of the shops and wholesalers were run by Muslims.

The UN's World Food Programme is due to start airlifting aid on Wednesday.

The roads are too dangerous to transport food without a military escort, WFP spokesman Alexis Masciarelli told the BBC.

This means it is being forced to take the more expensive option of flying food in from neighbouring Cameroon.

He said 82 tonnes of rice would arrive on Wednesday, with a further 1,800 tonnes of cereal to follow over the next month.

This is enough to feed 150,000 people but he said 1.25 million need food aid.

With traders and herders fleeing the country, aid organisations fear the food crisis in CAR will only get worse

French peacekeepers have been unable to halt the violence
According to the UN, 90% of the population are eating one meal a day.

France has sent 1,600 troops and African countries 5,500 to CAR to help combat a crisis which has lasted more than a year.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is in Bangui to see the situation for himself.

On Tuesday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned that the country risked being divided into Muslim and Christian areas.

"Both Muslims and Christians have been murdered and forced to flee their homes," he said.

"The sectarian brutality is changing the country's demography. The de facto partition of the CAR is a distinct risk."

Muslims are being attacked after a mainly Muslim rebel force seized power last year and was accused of killing Christian civilians.

Its leader stepped down in January but instead of defusing the situation, Christian vigilante groups have been taking revenge on Muslims, forcing them to flee Bangui and other towns.

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