Two Dead In Fresh Violence In C.African Flashpoint District

Bangui, Central African Republic, May 7 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th May, 2018 ) :At least two people were killed and 10 injured in new clashes in a flashpoint Muslim area of the Central African Republic (car)'s capital, hospital workers said Monday, as several thousand attended ceremonies for Catholics killed last week.

The latest casualties occurred on Sunday in the PK5 district and nearby areas, the sources said. Local residents said they heard automatic weapons fire and several houses had been burned down. Despite the rise in tension, around 3,000 people, including President Faustin-Archange Touadera and Prime Minister Simplice Sarandji, took part in a funeral ceremony in central Bangui for people killed in an attack on a church on May 1, including a Catholic priest, Albert Tougoumale-Baba.

"The blood of our martyrs will be a pathway to peace, it will not be a sacrifice in vain," said Sister Monica, a nun who was close to Tougoumale-Baba. Twenty-four people were killed and more than 170 injured in Bangui on May 1, sparking fears that one of the world's most unstable countries would plunge once more into a bloody sectarian conflict.

The violence began with a confrontation between security forces and militiamen in the PK5 district. Armed men then stormed the Fatima church in the middle of a service, killing worshippers and a priest. In response, a mob burned a mosque and lynched two people believed to be Muslim.