CAR soldiers blamed for killings

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1. revathi
   

   Army troops in the Central African Republic killed up to 30 civilians in February in the Ndele region, a BBC investigation has found.
   
   Witnesses say the government soldiers shot dead 21 people in the village of Sokumba, about 70km (44 miles) from the border with Chad.
   
   Other human rights abuses committed by both the national army and rebels have been reported in the area.
   
   The CAR military declined to respond to the allegations.
   
   Four months after a peace deal was signed by various rebel groups, the country is facing renewed fighting in the north.
   
   Thousands displaced
   
   In Sokumba, a group of women were preparing for a funeral ceremony when soldiers - believed to be part of the elite presidential guard - arrived in the village and told all the men to gather under a mango tree.
   
   The BBC's Thomas Fessy interviewed witnesses who say soldiers accused them of supporting the rebels and killed the men after first shooting the chief of the village.
   
   Diplomatic sources say empty shell cases and blood-stained clothes were found at the scene a week after the killing.
   
   Between seven and nine other people are reported to have been killed by government soldiers in nearby villages.
   
   The head of the human rights section in Bangui, the capital of the CAR, Renner Onana, says that human rights abuses have been committed by both the army and the rebels operating in the area.
   
   Declining an interview to respond to the allegations, the Central African army chief of staff, General Francois Mobebou, refused to give any further comment.
   
   Sporadic fighting broke out in January between government troops and a rebel group that calls itself the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace.
   
   However, little is known about their aims and their chain of command is not very clear.
   
   Thousands of people have since fled the violence and have crossed into Chad.

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