Chadian troops among Central African force to be redeployed

AFP/BanguiChadian troops in a Central African Republic peacekeeping force will be redeployed from the capital Bangui, a force spokesman said yesterday amid charges they were siding with a former rebel group. The announcement came as exchanges of gunfire erupted in several parts of Bangui, including near the airport, residents and witnesses said without giving details about who was involved. “The whole Chadian contingent will be sent to secure the north in the next few days,” a spokesman for the African MISCA force, Lieutenant Colonel Ndong Toutoune, told AFP. The spokesman gave no other details on how and exactly where the Chadian troops would redeploy in the strife-torn country which has been terrorised by sectarian bloodletting. The Chadians, mainly because they are Muslim, face accusations by many in Bangui of complicity with the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels who overthrew president Francois Bozize in March in the predominantly Christian country. The head of the Burundian contingent in the African force MISCA told AFP his men were disarming former rebels on Monday when Chadian troops from MISCA threw a grenade and opened fire on them, prompting some Burundian elements to return fire, wounding three Chadians. Also on Monday Chadian soldiers opened fire on hundreds of stone-throwing protesters, mostly Christians, killing one man and wounding around 40 others, three seriously. Traditionally influential in the Central African Republic, neighbouring Chad is France’s main partner in its efforts to re-establish peace in the country. It contributes 850 troops to the  3,700-strong MISCA force.  But the growing defiance of Central Africans toward the Chadian contingent is complicating the task of the 1,600 French troops deployed to the country since the beginning of December. The deployment came after interim President Michel Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka, but some of its members went rogue, leading to months of killing, rape and pillaging—and prompting Christians to form vigilante groups in response. Amnesty International says some 1,000 people have been killed since December 5, mostly by Muslim ex-rebels but also in Christian reprisal attacks. Following a night of isolated and sporadic bursts of gunfire, automatic weapons fire and explosions were heard in the PK12 neighbourhood in northern Bangui, residents said by telephone. Burundian troops later patrolled the area where Christian militiamen walked the streets with machetes, an AFP journalist said. A body lay on an avenue of the neighbourhood. Sustained gunfire also erupted near the airport, a witness said but it was not clear who was involved. Five people were killed and 10 injured yesterday when gunmen opened fire on a church in the capital of the Central African Republic on Christmas morning. The pastor at the Saint Charles Lwanga church in Bangui blamed the attack on the Seleka rebel group. The church serves thousands of people in the area who have been displaced by war in the country over the past year. “Our lives are in danger on a daily basis, and we are regularly threatened by Seleka. I call on the authorities to take responsibility for guaranteeing the safety of Central Africans,” said pastor Anicet Ossibouyen Senganambi. About 400,000 of CAR’s 4.5 million people have been displaced and scores of civilians have been killed, especially in the country’s north-west. Amnesty International said more than 1,000 people have been killed in CAR so far this month.