30 People Die in Attack on Church in Central African Republic

The AP is reporting that at least 30 people were killed when Seleka Islamic rebels attacked a Catholic Church in the capital of the Central African Republic. As the Daily Beast notes, though the nation has seen constant violence since fighting between the Christian majority and Muslim rebels associated with the Seleka coalition broke out, up to now, churches have been mostly off limits to violence, and have offered shelter to both Muslims and Christians. The Seleka coalition was ousted from the government five months ago, and began targeting Christians in brutal attacks around the country. When Christian militias organized to fight the Seleka, in many cases, they began targeting the Muslim minority in revenge attacks, further fueling violent tensions in the country. The church’s pastor in the latest attack told the AP, “We were in the church when were heard the shooting outside. There were screams and after 30 minutes of gunfire there were bodies everywhere” …