MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) — The United Nation's newly deployed peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic must take "bold measures" to protect civilians as a wave of sectarian attacks sweeps over the country's central regions, Amnesty International said Thursday.
"If the UN peacekeeping mission is to have any credibility, it must take stronger steps to effectively protect civilians from the raft of abuses they are facing," Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa, was cited as saying by the organization.
According to Amnesty International, despite the deployment of a new UN peacekeeping mission in the country, "dozens of civilians, including several children, have been killed and thousands more displaced in recent weeks".
"The mostly Muslim Seleka forces, now split into at least two armed groups, have been clashing with mainly Christian and animist anti-balaka militia in the region over the past months. All sides, Seleka, anti-balaka and armed Peulhs [members of the Peulh ethnic group, many of which belong to a Seleka spin-off group], are systematically targeting civilians that they believe support the other side's fighters," the organization said.
Violence in the African republic escalated in December 2013, when clashes between Islamist militants from the Seleka rebel group and Christian activists confronting them swept Bangui.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) was deployed in the country on September 15. According to the UN Secretary-General's September statement, the peacekeeping force is estimated to include some 6,500 troops.
