Islamism Spreads In Central Africa: ‘Torture, Looting, The Murder Of Civilians Are Continuing Unabated’, Whole Villages Burn

For peaceful purposes …

Qur’an Sura 4:89, ”They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies … seize them and kill them wherever you find them …”

CNA – “Widespread violence in the Central African Republic which began in December is in risk of diffusing to nearby countries, an official with Aid to the Church in Need has warned.

‘The situation is becoming steadily more dramatic. Torture, looting and the murder of civilians are continuing unabated, whole villages are being burnt down,’ said Christine du Coudray, head of the charity’s African section, in an Oct. 22 interview with Aid to the Church in Need.

‘The country is sinking further and further into chaos, and there is a danger of a conflagration which could destabilize the whole region.’

The Central African Republic was engulfed in a war from 2004 to 2007, but violence broke out again in December, 2012. On March 24, 2013, Séléka rebels ousted the president, and installed their own leader in a coup.

The Séléka have since been officially disbanded, but its members continue to plunder the country through looting, torture and rape. The Central African Republic is among the world’s poorest countries, with extremely low human development and major human rights abuses.

The Central African Republic borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan. Of its population of 4.4 million, the United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their homes by this year’s violence.

du Coudray welcomed an Oct. 10 United Nations Security Council resolution which opens a path for international intervention in the country which it has said is in danger of becoming a failed state. She called the resolution “the first glimmer of hope for a country which has been on the brink for months.”

‘Public life does not function and the country is still being destroyed,’ du Coudray said, adding that ‘schools are closed, wages and salaries are not being paid … even in the past it was almost exclusively the Church which took care of the population.’

That remains true today. In Bossangoa, a city 200 miles north of the capital, Bangui, some 30,000 people took refuge in an enclosed church compound, a director of Doctors Without Borders reported in The Guardian Oct. 17. The compound is a Roman Catholic mission.

The violence in the Central African Republic is in danger of becoming sectarian. du Coudray said many of the Séléka ‘come from the Sudan or Chad’ and that a portion of them ‘are now importing Islamism …” Read more.

Flashback: Central African Republic: Islamic Militants Armed With ‘Hit List’ Of Pastors And Churches Launch ‘Reign Of Terror’ Against Christians – “Islamic militants have launched a ‘reign of terror’ against Christians in Central African Republic after Seleka rebels took control of the country in a March 24 coup, rights activists said. Armed with a ‘hit list’ of pastors and places of worship, Seleka rebels systematically looted church property, even seizing money from collection plates, according to Barnabas Fund, a Christian aid and advocacy group working in the region.” Read more.

Flashback: Desolation: Dozens Killed After Islamists Attack Christian Villages In Central African Republic – “Attacks by extremists on Christian villages in the Central African Republic have left at least 15 dead and made around 1,000 people homeless. The raids were carried out by Islamist militia group, Séléka which seized control of the country following a coup in March 2013. At least 14 villages in Bouar Diocese were completely abandoned after residents fled, Italian Carmelite missionary, Fr Aurelio Gazzera, told Aid to the Church in Need.” Read more.