Editor's note: This blog was written by Enough Project intern Jasper Kubasek.
On September 15th the world looked on as the United Nations deployed its peacekeeping mission to the Central African Republic and the United States reopened its embassy in the nation's capital city Bangui. It was a day characterized by prospective hope and optimism, as US Secretary of State John Kerry vowed that the United States would join forces with international partners to help bring stability to a country that has become entrenched in sectarian fighting between the largely Christian Anti-Balaka militia and the Muslim Seleka rebels. Yet in Bangui, just one month later, the day is characterized not by hope and optimism, but rather by killings and chaos as the capital experiences a surge in violence.
The latest bloodshed began on September 29th, snowballing out of control in a sequence of tit-for-tat revenge attacks that spurred brutal violence. By October 8th tensions reached new heights after seven people lost their lives in the series of violent exchanges, culminating in the decapitation of a Muslim man. Elements of the Anti-Balaka burned his dismembered body in the street.
Gunfire continued unabated throughout the night of October 8th and on the following morning aid workers collected 12 bodies and treated more than 20 wounded. Anti-Balaka members and criminal gangs have the city in a ...
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