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<p>Horrific footage has emerged of a cannibal eating the leg of a Muslim slaughtered by a rampaging Christian mob in the Central African Republic.</p>

BANGUI, Central African Republic – Officials say Chadian soldiers killed more than 30 civilians in Central African Republic's strife-torn capital city. Jean-Pierre Sadou, a gendarmerie official with the regional peacekeeping force, could not confirm the death toll from Saturday's violence but said the Chadian soldiers' actions were a "legitimate defense" after their convoy was attacked by grenades.

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Peacekeepers in the Central African Republic declared war on the majority-Christian vigilante known as "anti-balaka" on Wednesday as the UN warned the militia had crossed a red line by attacking international troops. The head of the MISCA African force blamed the groups for a series of attacks on peacekeepers in the former French colony, and said they would be treated as "enemies". "From now on, we consider the anti-balaka as enemies of MISCA," Congolese General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko said in remarks carried by a private radio station. "And we will treat them as such."...

BANGUI, Central African Republic — Peacekeepers in Central African Republic opened fire on a crowd in the capital on Friday to disrupt anti-Muslim violence, injuring six people including four who were under 16, witnesses and officials said. The incident began when a Muslim man tried to carry out a transaction at a bank but was attacked by an angry mob. ... On Thursday, Navi Pillay, the U.N.’s top human rights official, warned Thursday that hatred between Muslim and Christian communities in Central African Republic was “at a terrifying level” and that the country remained in a state of near-anarchy, meaning...

The Afghan Taliban on Saturday called for an end to violence against Muslims in the Central African Republic, making a rare statement on conflicts outside their region. Central African Republic has been wracked by sectarian violence, with Christian armed fighters hunting down and killing Muslim civilians in recent weeks despite the presence of thousands of French and African peacekeepers. The violence has displaced tens of thousands of Muslims in what the United Nations human rights body has called "ethnic-religious cleansing." In a statement released Saturday, the Taliban condemned the "merciless killings" of Muslims at the hands of "bloodthirsty militias" as...

(Reuters) - France said on Friday it plans to send another 400 troops to help combat a crisis in the Central African Republic as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon pleaded for more swift, robust international help to stop sectarian violence that could turn into a genocide. French President Francois Hollande's office urged other countries to show "increased solidarity" and called on the United Nations Security Council to approve the creation of a U.N. peacekeeping force in the landlocked former French colony. Some 838,000 people have been displaced since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel group seized power in March last year in...

Christian militia taking revenge on the Central African Republic's Muslim population could drive the entire Islamic group out of the country, a human rights group claimed earlier this week. The anti-balaka ("anti-machete") has increasingly fought back against the country's minority Muslim population since the Muslim Seleka rebel group antagonized the country's Christians. Human Rights Watch employees in the Central African Republic have claimed to have witnessed anti-balaka forces cutting "the throats of Muslim civilians, publicly lynching, mutilating, and setting their bodies on fire." It also reported attacks where the groups had cut off body parts or hacked Muslims to death....

BANGUI, Central African Republic — Cheers broke out in the National Assembly building here on Monday as representatives chose the mayor of this beleaguered capital to serve as the interim president of the Central African Republic, a country in the grip of a sectarian civil war. Catherine Samba-Panza, 58, will be the first woman to lead the nation, and she will probably serve for a little over a year, with the goal of leading it to national elections. Her appointment came from an unusual assortment of unelected rebel sympathizers, politicians, artists and others who have filled in as a substitute...

European Union foreign ministers on Monday unanimously approved a joint military force to assist French and African troops trying to quell anarchy and bloodshed in Central African Republic. The 28-nation bloc is now preparing operational details to dispatch about 500 soldiers to stabilize the situation in and around the country’s capital, Bangui, said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. However, it is still mostly unclear which nations will contribute soldiers to the EU mission. …

(Reuters) - Gunfire rang out, mosques were attacked and Muslim-owned shops and houses were looted overnight in Central African Republic's capital, and the former president left for exile in Benin after stepping down as part of a drive to restore order. There were hopes that the change of leadership might provide a fresh start to peace efforts, and violence had eased by daybreak on Saturday. But the United Nations stepped up flights out for foreigners. Governments of other African countries have evacuated nearly 30,000 of their citizens caught up in the violence. President Michel Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye...

<p>African peacekeepers were forced to intervene in the Central African Republic on Thursday to disperse a crowd waiting to attack a group of Muslims who had taken refuge in a church compound.</p> <p>Several thousand people stood by on Thursday as a group of men threw large rocks trying to break into the compound of the Saint-Jacques church in Bangui. They were looking for an ex-rebel general they believed to be inside.</p>

(CNN) -- The U.S. military expects on Thursday to begin flying Burundi forces into the Central African Republic to help stop the violence in that war-torn country, according to a U.S. military official. The United States has two C-17 aircraft in Uganda that will pick up the forces in Burundi and unload them in Bangui, the capital. The official emphasized the U.S. planes will remain on the ground in Bangui for a very short period due to the violence there. The official also said the United States believes its planes and crews will be safe, because French forces control the...

President Obama on Monday urged the citizens of the Central African Republic to “choose a different path” amid the latest round of sectarian violence gripping the nation. “We know from the bitter experience of other countries what happens when societies descend into violence and retribution,” Obama said in an audio message taped as Air Force One refueled in Dakar, Senegal. “Today, my message to you is simple: it doesn’t have to be this way.” Fighting between Christians and Muslims has lead to more than 400 deaths over the past two days, according to the Associated Press. Obama noted that religious...

BANGUI, Central African Republic, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The mineral-rich Central African Republic is collapsing into chaos amid a worsening religious conflict between Christians and Muslims that could trigger genocide and bring more upheaval to a region already beset by turmoil, observers warn. "The situation ... is horrendous," Gerard Araud, France's ambassador to the United Nations, said last week after the Security Council was briefed on the swelling bloodbath in the former French colony. "The state has collapsed and this country is now simply plundered, looted, the women are raped, people are killed by thugs," he said. "The country has...

France will boost its military presence in the Central African Republic by the end of the year to stop the country from spiralling out of control, the French foreign minister has said. "President Hollande we want your help!" read one banner as locals in Bangui, the capital, welcomed Laurent Fabius at the weekend. The country has been in turmoil since mostly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President François Bozizé in the predominantly Christian country in March. It now teeters on the brink of increased sectarian violence, malnutrition and a collapse of state rule. ... France has long been seen by many...

International groups and mission organizations, including Bible translation teams working in the Central African Republic, are fleeing the troubled nation as escalating fighting threatens expatriate staff. Wycliffe Associates decided to evacuate its foreign workers this month after fighters looted and pillaged its team’s work. Violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) escalated Sept.8 as clashes between the current president’s forces and alleged supporters of ousted President Francois Bozize killed nearly 100 people.
 Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organization, reported that fighting continued on Sept. 9, in the village of Bouca, 62 miles from Bossangoa. The Associated Press reported that 60...

New York, US - UN agencies on Friday expressed alarm at the increasing rate of human rights violations in the Central African Republic (CAR), following reports of burnt and abandoned villages, massive displacement, as well as looting and torture. PANA in New York reported that members of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), along with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), travelled last week to the town of Paoua, 500 kilometres north of the capital, Bangui. They found seven villages burnt to the ground and deserted and the eighth partially burnt with...

The former rebels, who seized power in March, were trying to "disarm" residents who lived near the airport, the UN's Amy Martin told the BBC. Peacekeeping troops were now trying to move them from the airport so it can resume normal operations, she said. The UN Security Council recently said the CAR threatened regional stability. Aid agencies have recently warned that undisciplined fighters from the Seleka group which ousted President Francois Bozize had looted the healthcare system, leaving it in ruins. About a third of the country's 4.6 million people need assistance with food, shelter, health care or water, according...

Britain has invaded all but 22 countries in the world in its long and colourful history, new research has found. Every schoolboy used to know that at the height of the empire, almost a quarter of the atlas was coloured pink, showing the extent of British rule. But that oft recited fact dramatically understates the remarkable global reach achieved by this country. A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe. The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the world found only...

The AU wants Africa to manufacture and export finished products to its trading partners rather than just selling them the raw materials as it does now. She cited China, India, the EU and US and other rising stars in trade with the continent, including Turkey and Latin America, and said the AU had held talks on the new breed of partnerships with some of them. The AU also wants Africa to have a veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council, and a place at the G20 negotiating table, Ali said. The peace and security that have eluded Africa for decades...