This Time, the UN Can’t Let Africa Fail

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Until recently, thousands of peopleescaping violence in the Central African Republic at least couldfind refuge in the capital, Bangui. I was one of them. I hadbeen in the northern town of Bouca where a massacre of civilianssheltering in a church compound was narrowly averted by thearrival of African Union troops. And so I was grateful, dayslater, to reach the relative safety of Bangui.

Now the violence has reached the capital, which has becomefrighteningly dangerous. Roughly 350,000 people, about half thecity’s population, have been displaced by sectarian fightingbetween the largely Muslim Seleka coalition, which took power ina March 2013 coup, and the anti-balaka (“anti-machete”)militias of the country’s majority Christians, backed bysoldiers of the former government. Attacks have become moregruesome, with civilians often targeted.