By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – At least 30 people died and dozens wounded in clashes in the Central African Republic (“CAR”), officials say.

The clashes were between armed civilians and the rebels who control CAR. They left those dead in a remote village in the country’s northwest.

The rebels were ex-rebels of the Seleka coalition and the armed civilians were local self-defense groups.

“Fierce fighting has claimed at least 30 lives . . . but the clashes were still going on as of mid-morning,” a security source close to the military high command in Bangui told AFP.

The fighting broke out on Monday and continued into Tuesday.

Reports say vigilantes attacked Garga village, 125 miles northwest of the capital, Bangui.

Waves of attacks on villages in Ouham province have forced more than 170,000 people to flee their homes, according to the U.N. Humanitarian Agency. Although it was not immediately possible to independently corroborate the military’s death toll of 30 people; however, witnesses claimed that twice this amount of people actually died.

The self-defense groups began attacking the village on Monday, the security source said, leaving three dead and a dozen injured. They were then beaten back by rebels who were the ones that distributed the weapons to the local population.

Seleka was disbanded in name but continues to operate as a pro-militia in the region.

The Agence France-Presse news agency quoted an official saying the village had been “emptied of its residents.”

Many had sought refuge in nearby bush land, it further said.

“A witness described having seen at least 40 people killed by the Seleka fighters who had begun searching for the men in town,” a Roman Catholic priest who works in the country’s northwest said, pointing out that the casualty figures did not include Seleka personnel.

The Seleka forces involved in the violence included fighters from neighboring Sudan, local residents were quoted by the AP news agency as saying.

CAR was one of the poorest and most unstable countries on the continent even before thousands of armed rebels descended on the capital in March and forced the president of a decade into exile.

In the months since, they have seized power, the country has devolved into a state of near-anarchy, and human rights groups have accused the rebel fighters of scores of atrocities, including committing massacres against civilians.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Central African Republic violence leaves 30 dead – 8 October 2013
Miami Herald – Army: Central African Republic clashes kill 23 – 8 October 2013
Yahoo! News – Central Africa clashes ‘leave 30 dead’ – 8 October 2013
News UK 24 – Central African Republic violence leaves 30 dead – 8 October 2013
DailyMe – BBC News – Central African Republic violence leaves 30 dead – 8 October 2013