The worst violence in almost a year has flared in the last several days in the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), and clashes in Bangui have left at least 42 people dead.
The Associated Press reports that conditions
…further deteriorated Monday as more than 500 inmates escaped from a prison and militia fighters looted the offices of international aid organizations, officials said. […] The unrest erupted as transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, sparked by the death of a Muslim man whose body was left near a mosque. Muslim militants then attacked a Christian neighborhood with weekend clashes leaving several dozen people dead.
Earlier the U.N.'s interim humanitarian coordinator in CAR was quoted as saying the renewed violence is "a big step backwards." The violence has underscored CAR's fragility and heightened doubts that elections planned for October 18 will move forward.
Read the latest here: More than 500 prisoners escape jail in Central African Republic capital as chaos deepens.
Earlier this month, Enough Project's Field Researcher Kasper Agger warned that the CAR's rushed election are a dangerous gamble. Read the entire piece in African Arguments.