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Central African Republic militias deploy children in clashes: U.N. official
14/10/2014
BANGUI (Reuters) - Armed groups recruited and deployed children in clashes in Central African Republic's capital last week and at least three were killed, including two they had accused of spying, the top U.N. humanitarian official in the country said.
The fighting last week marked the most serious violence in months in the former French colony, which has descended into turmoil since rebels seized the capital Banguiand toppled the government in March 2013.
"I confirm the brutal killings of at least three children, including two boys who had been accused of spying and an eight-year-old shot by a stray bullet," Claire Bourgeois said in a statement on Tuesday.
The three days of clashes - mostly militias, known as anti-balaka, against armed Muslims - left at least 10 people dead and forced up to 6,500 to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
"Humanitarian organisations have reported the presence of a large number of children at several barricades in Bangui," she said.
Thousands have died and around 1 million people have been displaced since the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition seized power in the majority Christian country a year and a half ago.
The rebels later withdrew from Bangui and ceded power to a transitional government. But their abuses prompted a backlash by the anti-balaka that has plunged the country - which is rich in diamonds, uranium and gold - into a deadly cycle of inter-communal clashes.
Last week's violence - the first major test for the country's newly deployed U.N. peacekeeping mission - occurred amid increasing political tensions as anti-balaka leaders called for Interim President Catherine Samba Panza to step down.
One Pakistani peacekeeper was killed and several other U.N. soldiers were wounded during the clashes.
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