MISCA peacekeepers carried out the operation on Sunday to prevent more sectarian violence.
The African Union peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, CAR, on Sunday, April 27, 2014, moved out the last set of Moslems trapped in the PK 12 neighbourhood of the capital, Bangui, since last December by sectarian violence, Radio France Internationale, RFI reported.
The 1,300 people were escorted in a long convoy of trucks to two safe havens in the north of the country. Reports said the lorries were also filled with luggage such as tents, blankets, furniture, plastic kegs and household electronic gadgets. Those who could not transport some of their belongings preferred to burn them, including a car. The evacuees will be settled in Kabo and Sido near the Chadian border, two sites that were prepared for them by the United Nations that organised the transfer.
The BBC said shortly after the convoy left, looters descended on the neighbourhood to strip houses and businesses, and even the mosque, shouting that they did not want Moslems there any longer. A total of 22 Moslems were reportedly killed by the anti-Balaka militiamen in the last four months in PK 12 as they awaited evacuation. Aid agencies have warned that the expulsions could exacerbate a food crisis as many of the shops and wholesalers were run by Moslems.
The population transfer came as news emerged of the killing of at least 22 people on Saturday, April 26, 2014 in Nanga Boguila, about 450 km from the capital. According to RFI, gunmen suspected to be from the defunct Séléka militia, attacked a Doctors Without Borders health centre, killing aid workers and community dignitaries who were holding a meeting.
Reports say there are still between 15,000 and 20,000 Moslems in several enclaves in southern CAR. While the government of Transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza has along opposed the mass uprooting of Moslems from the south, aid agencies have argued that their security cannot be guaranteed. CAR is made up of 50 per cent Christians, 15 per cent Moslems, while the remaining 35 per cent profess indigenous beliefs. About a quarter of the country's 4.6 million people have fled their homes due to the current conflict pitting rival Moslem and Christian militias.
