2-14 | Since February 1, in Carnot, southwestern Central African Republic (CAR), nearly 1,000 people, mostly Muslim, have been trapped, surrounded and threatened by the self-defense militias known as anti-Balakas. MSF has been working in Carnot since 2010 and has been a direct witness to the violence and abuses against the city’s displaced Muslim populations, who we are assisting.
2-14 | José Mas Campos, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Bangui, Central African Republic. He wrote this account of his experiences there in December last year. The situation today has not improved.The shuddering thunder of anti-aircraft guns and submachine guns went on non-stop in the distance until it died down around midday. From then on, gunshots and explosions in the distance filled the town’s soundscape with echoes and bad omens. While our doctors and nurses, seasoned MSF veterans, were giving their all on one of the most chaotic, bloodthirsty days they recall.
2-7 | “Between the constant tension and the many serious wounds, this was my most difficult mission” Jessie GAFFRIC is coordinator of MSF’s project at the Bangui Community Hospital, where the organization performs emergency surgery for victims of the confrontations, abuses and violence rocking the city. Jessie has carried out several missions for MSF in violent and conflict settings, including Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2-7 | Muslim communities threatened in many towns, forced to leave the country Over the past weeks the extreme violence in the Central African Republic has reached intolerable and unprecedented levels, said the international medical-humanitarian organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
2-5 | Escalating violence, revenge killings, arson and looting in the Central African Republic have displaced more than 900, 000 civilians, according to UNOCHA. The morning of Thursday 30th January saw 8 000 displaced Muslim people in Bossangoa preparing to load their families and possessions on a fleet of hired trucks, fleeing the country in terror of attacks by anti-balaka militias.