Attack in IDP camp kills 42, mostly women

BRIA, Central African Republic — Dozens of people are feared dead after suspected Islamist rebels attacked a group of civilians in early September.

Sources told World Watch Monitor that as many as 42 people were killed during the two-day attack Sept. 4–5 by members of the Popular Front for the Central African Renaissance, one of four factions of the now-disbanded Seleka rebels, an Islamic extremist group.

The victims, mostly women, were shot or hacked to death while returning to PK3, an internally displaced persons camp in Bria with a population of more than 50,000, many of them Christians. At least one of the victims was pregnant.

Since 2013, Christians have been displaced, tortured and killed in fighting between various militant factions. Although Seleka has mostly been driven from Central African Republic, violent splinter groups remain, Open Doors reported.

Central African Republic is No. 35 on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. (TAB)