RugbyRebels

The violence is continuing in this relatively small African nation of just under 5 million inhabitants. Earlier this month an attack on a refugee camp caused 30 deaths and wounded around twice that number. This particular incident was blamed on the Seleka Muslims by the international press. But what has been grossly under-reported is the fact the Seleka themselves have been victims of what the United Nations has adjudged 'intended genocide' by the Christian majority. This latest conflict in the former French colony began three years ago when the Seleka staged a successful coup to remove president Francoise Bozize, who had himself come to power by way of a military coup a decade earlier, only to violate Bush War peace agreements and run a corrupt and nepotistic dictatorship. The ensuing violence between the Seleka and Christian anti-Balaka militias has resulted in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands displaced. Most of the victims have been Muslims, barely a mosque has been left standing, and the tactics of the anti-Balaka have been described as 'ethnic cleansing.' CAR comprises around 80 ethnic groups and its second biggest religion, after Christianity, is in fact animist. Muslims comprise just 15% of the population. It gained independence from France in 1960, but just 5 years later democratic leader David Dacko was overthrown in a French-backed coup, led by Colonel Jean Bokassa, for being too friendly with Communist China. Bokassa promptly declared himself king and proceeded to run an entirely debauched dictatorship right up until the end of the 70s, when even the French had had enough and helped orchestrate his downfall. The following decades brought little but warfare and more corrupt leaderships, culminating in the overthrow of Bozize, who remains exiled in Cameroon and was banned from running in the recent elections - which ultimately brought his former PM Faustin Archange Touadera to power earlier this year. So far Touadera has proved entirely ineffective in his efforts to resolve the conflict. NB: United Nations peacekeepers in the region have also come under scrutiny following numerous reports of sexual violations.