Red Cross on Wednesday said its workers had found 115 bodies in the Central African Republic's border town of Bangassou after several days of militia attacks, raising by more than four times a previously reported death toll. Antoine Mbao Bogo, the president of the aid group's local branch, told the Reuters news agency that those killed had "died in various ways", including from knives, clubs and bullet wounds.

Start the conversation, or Read more at AllAfrica.com. </s> DAKAR, May 17 (Reuters) - Red Cross workers have found 115 bodies in Central African Republic's diamond-mining town of Bangassou after several days of militia attacks, the president of the aid group's local branch said on Wednesday.

"We found 115 bodies and 34 have been buried," Antoine Mbao Bogo told Reuters by phone from the capital Bangui. "They died in various ways: from knives, from clubs and bullet wounds."

A senior U.N. official had previously reported 26 civilian deaths. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Andrew Heavens) </s> Red Cross on Wednesday said its workers had found 115 bodies in the Central African Republic's (CAR) border town of Bangassou after several days of militia attacks, raising by more than four times a previously reported death toll.

Antoine Mbao Bogo, the president of the aid group's local branch, told the Reuters news agency that those killed had "died in various ways", including from knives, clubs and bullet wounds.

"We found 115 bodies and 34 have been buried," he said from the capital, Bangui.

A senior UN official had previously reported 26 civilian deaths.

READ MORE: As many as 100 killed in CAR fighting

According to the UN refugee agency, the situation in Bangassou sent an estimated 2,750 refugees fleeing across the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the weekend.

The violence represents a new escalation in a conflict that began in 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters seized power and removed then-president Francois Bozize, prompting reprisal killings from Christian anti-Balaka militias.

The UN high commissioner for human rights warned on Tuesday the violence in areas previously spared major bloodshed was "highly worrying".

"The hard-earned relative calm in [the capital] Bangui and some of the bigger towns in CAR risks being eclipsed by the descent of some rural areas into increasing sectarian violence, with defenceless civilians - as usual - paying the highest price," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also said unverifiable figures indicate up to 100 people may have been killed in three days of clashes from May 7 to 9 in the town of Alindao between anti-Balaka fighters and an ex-Seleka group. </s> The Red Cross in Central African Republic says at least 115 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in several days of attacks in the southeastern town of Bangassou.

Local Red Cross official Antoine Mbao-Bogo said Wednesday that 37 bodies have been buried and funerals continue. Hundreds of militia fighters from a predominantly Christian group known as the anti-Balaka attacked the town and the United Nations peacekeeping base there over the weekend.

The U.N. mission says tensions have reached the northern town of Bria, where fighting Tuesday between mostly Muslim Seleka rebels and anti-Balaka has killed at least five and injured 29. Peacekeepers have intervened to separate the groups.

A series of attacks in remote areas this past week have forced more than 15,000 people from their homes. </s> DAKAR, May 17 (Reuters) - Red Cross workers have found 115 bodies in Central African Republic's diamond-mining town of Bangassou after several days of militia attacks, the president of the aid group's local branch said on Wednesday.

The battle for control of the town marks a new escalation in a conflict that began in 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters ousted then-President Francois Bozize, prompting reprisal killings from Christian militias.

Recent clashes have centred on diamond-rich central and southern areas of the country, with rival militias battling among themselves to control them, aid workers say.

"We found 115 bodies and 34 have been buried," Antoine Mbao Bogo told Reuters by phone from the capital Bangui. "They died in various ways: from knives, from clubs and bullet wounds."

Hundreds of militia with heavy weaponry seized the southeastern border town of Bangassou at the weekend and U.N. peacekeepers have since then been trying to wrest it back.

The deployment of extra U.N. troops and air strikes have helped peacekeepers regain control of strategic points, U.N. spokesman Herve Verhoosel said on Wednesday.

Clashes between militias in the central town of Bria have killed five people, he added. The U.N. is also seeking to verify the deaths of up to 100 people in the town of Alindao. (Reporting by Emma Farge; additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Richard Lough) </s> There has been ongoing fight over the mining sites

Red Cross workers have found 115 bodies in Central African Republic’s diamond-mining town of Bangassou after several days of militia attacks, the president of the aid group’s local branch said on Wednesday.

The battle for control of the town marks a new escalation in a conflict that began in 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters ousted then-President Francois Bozize, prompting reprisal killings from Christian militias.

Aid workers say recent clashes have centered on diamond-rich central and southern areas of the country, with rival militias battling among themselves to control them.

Antoine Mbao Bogo told Reuters by phone: “We found 115 bodies and 34 have been buried.

“They died in various ways: from knives, from clubs and bullet wounds.”

Hundreds of militia with heavy weaponry seized the southeastern border town of Bangassou at the weekend and UN peacekeepers have since then been trying to wrest it back.

The world body spokesperson Herve Verhoosel said on Wednesday that deployment of extra UN troops and air strikes have helped peacekeepers regain control of strategic points.

He added that clashes between militias in the central town of Bria have killed five people.

The UN is also seeking to verify the deaths of up to 100 people in the town of Alindao.

Copyright The Eagle Online.

 Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.theeagleonline.com.ng as the source. </s> BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) - Fighting broke out in Central African Republic's northern town of Bria after several days of attacks in the southeastern city of Bangassou left at least 115 people dead, authorities said Wednesday.

The United Nations has warned that the sectarian violence that has plagued the country since late 2013 is now occurring in areas that previously had been spared.

The head of the Red Cross in Central African Republic, Antoine Mbao-Bogo, said his staff had counted 115 bodies in Bangassou after hundreds of militia fighters from a predominantly Christian group known as the anti-Balaka attacked a Muslim district and the U.N. peacekeeping base there over the weekend.

At least 50 others were injured, Mbao-Bogo said.

The U.N. reported more than 30 dead on Tuesday. Humanitarian agencies have called it incredibly difficult to retrieve corpses from the streets because of the ongoing insecurity.

The violence spread to Bria on Tuesday as fighting between the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels and the anti-Balaka left at least five dead and 29 injured, U.N. mission spokesman Herve Verhoosel said Wednesday. Peacekeepers intervened to separate the groups and restore calm.

A resident said Seleka members tried to disarm anti-Balaka members in the center of town but other Christian rebels started shooting.

A series of attacks in remote areas of the country in the past week have forced more than 15,000 people from their homes. More than 200 people have been killed. Among the victims are six U.N. peacekeepers, marking the deadliest month for the mission since it arrived in 2014. </s> Raising alarm over increasing reports of serious human rights violations in the Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations human rights chief underscored that the scale and nature of the allegations could warrant an investigation by an international mechanism, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), between 5 to 7 April, a team of UN human rights and police officials found 17 further mass graves in the Kasai Central province, which had been the location of clashes between security forces and the Kamuina Nsapu, a local militia.

“The discovery of yet more mass graves and the reports of continued violations and abuses highlight the horror that has been unfolding in the Kasais over the last nine months,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a news release, highlighting the need to monitor the situation closely.

“Should there be no effective national investigation, I will not hesitate to urge the international community to support an investigation by an international mechanism, including the International Criminal Court,” he added.

Fifteen of the recently discovered mass graves were in a cemetery in the town of Tshimbulu and two in the locality of Tshienke.

According to information received by the UN investigators, soldiers from the Forces armées de la Republique démocratique du Congo (FARDC) had reportedly dug the graves, after clashing with presumed elements of the Kamuina Nsapu between 26-28 March. At least 74 people, including 30 children, were reported to have been killed by soldiers as a result of these clashes.

The militia, loyal to a local customary chief who was killed in August last year, has been accused of a number of crimes and human rights abuses, including killings and abduction, recruitment of children, and targeting schools, hospitals and churches.

“It is absolutely vital that the Government takes meaningful steps, which to date have been lacking, to ensure that there is a prompt, transparent, and independent investigation to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by all parties,” underscored the UN rights chief.

The UN team also visited Kananga, a town in Kasai Central, where between 28-30 March, FARDC soldiers were reported to have shot dead at least 40 people, including 11 children and 12 women, in the town’s Nganza commune, and injured at least 21 others. There are also allegations that at least two women and three girls had been raped by the soldiers during that operation.

The UN investigators were also informed of the killing of three individuals, including a 17-year-old boy and a one-month-old baby during search operations by the Police Nationale Congolaise.

Also in the statement, High Commissioner Zeid offered his Office’s assistance in conducting a credible investigation into the reports and allegations but underscored that it must be provided with unfettered access.

“We reiterate our request for access to all sites of mass graves, as well as to all witnesses, including those in detention, and other relevant information necessary to determine responsibility at all levels,” he added. </s> DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Investigators have confirmed another 17 mass graves in central Congo, bringing the number to 40 discovered since clashes between soldiers and a local militia intensified in August, the United Nations human rights office said Wednesday, adding that Congolese soldiers reportedly killed at least 114 people, including 41 children.

The recent violence in once-calm Central Kasai province has included the killing of an American and a Swedish investigator for the U.N. last month, alarming the international community.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein warned Wednesday that if Congo’s government doesn’t investigate the violence effectively, he’ll urge that the International Criminal Court or another outside entity do it.

The new U.N. statement said Congolese soldiers reportedly dug the 17 newly discovered mass graves after fighting with suspected militia members in late March and killing at least 74 people, including 30 children.

Congolese soldiers also reportedly killed at least 40 people, including 11 children, in the capital of Central Kasai province, Kananga, late last month while going door-to-door looking for militia members, the U.N. said. The soldiers also reportedly buried an “unknown number of bodies” in a mass grave there.

In addition, at least two women and three girls reportedly were raped by soldiers, the statement said.

In a separate area of Kananga, the U.N. investigators were told that Congolese police had fatally trampled a one-month-old baby while searching a house.

“The discovery of yet more mass graves and the reports of continued violations and abuses highlight the horror that has been unfolding in the Kasais over the last nine months,” Zeid said. He said it is vital that Congo’s government take “meaningful steps, which to date have been lacking,” to investigate.

There was no immediate comment from Congolese authorities, who have promised to look into the killings of the two U.N. investigators and their interpreter and protect civilians from further violence.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the region since government troops killed the leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia in August, according to the U.N.

Wednesday’s statement also blames militia members for some of the recent violence, including attacks on churches and government buildings, and it said the militia has been accused of recruiting hundreds of children as fighters.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, at least 115 human bodies are discovered in the border town of Bangassou, more than previously thought. A few days prior, militias attacked the town, with the United Nations reporting that at least 26 people were killed.