CAR: At least 11 killed in Catholic church attack

At least 15 people, including a priest, have been killed and several others wounded following an attack on a Catholic church compound when Muslim gunmen sprayed bullets and hurled grenades at people sheltering in a church in the capital of Central African Republic on Wednesday, witnesses said. Wednesday’s attack at the Our Lady of Fatima church in central Bangui is the largest and most brazen blamed on Muslim fighters since the Seleka coalition was ousted from power nearly five months ago. “We were in the church when we heard the shooting outside,” Reverend Freddy Mboula told the Associated Press news agency. “There were screams and after 30 minutes of gunfire there were bodies everywhere.” Federique Nakombo, the general secretary of the Episcopal commission for peace and justice, told Reuters that armed men threw grenades into the church compound and opened fire on the crowd, killing priest Paul Emile Nzale. There were conflicting reports of how many were killed, and fighting in the area also prohibited observers from independently confirming the toll.  However the priest of the church, Jonas Bekas, said at least 11 people were killed in the attack, which began at around 3.00 p.m. local time (1400 GMT). The church compound was home to some 5,000 Christians displaced by violence, he said. Some witnesses said up to 30 people had been killed. A Reuters cameraman said he saw dozens of bodies being carried away. The attack on the Church, however, marked a rare assault on a house of worship, as Catholic churches have served as sanctuaries for both Christian and Muslim civilians since the country erupted into sectarian bloodshed in December. “One can only feel sadness about these deaths. For several days there have been clashes in this neighbourhood,” he added.   Fears escalated on Wednesday that the new bloodshed would spark reprisal attacks on the city’s few remaining Muslims, most of whom fled the city in a mass exodus earlier this year that the UN has described as ethnic cleansing. 700 of 2,000 French soldiers deployed to CAR have been assigned to patrol the streets of Bangui in light armoured vehicles, but the city is still gripped by violence.  The crisis in CAR has displaced nearly million people and at one point nearly 100,000 sought shelter on the grounds of the Bangui airport, which has been guarded by French and now other European peacekeepers.