At least 300 women were treated for sexual attacks after recent fighting in this rebellion-split Central African nation, a French medical aid group said on Monday.
Victims came from across the country, according to Medecins Sans Frontiers, or Doctors Without Borders, which treated the women in November and December in the capital, Bangui.
Central African Republic rebels loyal to a former army chief, Gen. Francois Bozize, nearly took the capital on October 25. But Libyan soldiers and insurgents from neighbouring Congo helped the government drive the insurgents back to the country’s north.
Bangui residents accuse the Congolese fighters of raping women and girls and pillaging homes. Medecins Sans Frontiers officials contacted in Barcelona, Spain, couldn’t say who was responsible for the attacks on the women they
treated in Bangui.
At the beginning of February, the group also began operating in areas held by Bozize’s rebels, a region previously cut off from humanitarian assistance. The leader of the Congolese rebels, Jean-Pierre Bemba, pledged to pull out his 1 500 fighters by mid-February, but many remain in the country to help fight the rebels.
Libya says it has pulled out all of its troops — sent by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2001 to prop up President Ange-Felix Patasse — as a regional security force deploys.
Patasse promises a national dialogue — excluding the rebel movement — to search for peace.
Central African Republic, a country rich in gold, diamond and uranium, has been racked by military revolts and other uprisings since independence from France in 1960.
Patasse has weathered six coup attempts in the past six years. The country’s own military is weak and prone to mutinies. – Sapa-AP