At least 17 killed in Central African Republic violence

BANGUI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed in Central African Republic (CAR) on Tuesday in a series of violence at a church and around the presidency in the capital Bangui, according to security and local sources.

According to local residents, the country's security forces on Tuesday morning launched a search operation against a rebel leader known as "Force" in Fatima, near PK5, a Muslim neighborhood in Bangui, home to armed groups.

The operation failed and caused exchanges of fire, killing several people including an abbot, they said.

According to an anonymous source of the gendarmerie, in addition to the abbot, at least 13 bodies were counted in the hospitals to which the wounded had been sent.

At around 2 p.m., protesters, mostly Christians, gathered before the presidency, holding the dead body of the dead abbot. Three Muslims were killed on their way, bringing the toll to at least 17.

According to an unofficial UN source, a MINUSCA official was wounded near the presidency by the protesters, who consider the civilian protection by the UN Mission in Central Africa (MINUSCA) as passive and ineffective.

MINUSCA and CAR security forces had sought "Force" in mid-April in a joint operation, but failed. More than twenty deaths were reported during this operation. Enditem