Central African Republic: A complex conflict

The Central African Republic catches the headlines yet again, after rebels attacked UN workers and a radio station in July 2015, as reported by Mission Network News on 3 August 2015. Amnesty International also released a report, documenting the violence committed by anti-Balaka militias against Muslims. Dennis Pastoor, persecution analyst for World Watch Research, comments: "The conflict in CAR has many dimensions. It"s increasingly difficult to make sense of it, but it"s much too simple to frame it as an interreligious conflict. Although it"s true that the anti-Balaka militias call themselves Christians and fight to preserve and protect Christians, their fight is not of a religious nature; it"s largely political. Moreover, the Christian majority and Christian leaders in CAR have officially and vehemently distanced themselves from the anti-Balaka violence. In fact, many Christians are also suffering from anti-Balaka. There are some reports of attacked Christians and threatened Church leaders who have dared speak out against them."