UN Photo/Catianne Tijerina

MSF: Violence Against Civilians is Surging in CAR

Some 100,000 people have been displaced since September. “Violence against civilians in Central African Republic, including summary executions and mutilations, is reaching levels not seen since the height of its years-long conflict, Doctors Without Borders said.The country descended into chaos when a mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance ousted then-president Francois Bozize in 2013, sparking reprisals from Christian militias. Religion has played a waning role as splinter groups now clash over control of territory and resources. Recent violence has been concentrated in four prefectures in the centre and east, where the government and a 13,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission have struggled to contain the bloodshed, the medical charity said. “Our teams have witnessed summary executions and have found mutilated bodies left exposed to terrorise populations,” Rene Colgo, the deputy head of MSF’s mission in CAR, said in a statement released late on Wednesday.” (Reuters http://bit.ly/2nJeadF)

The more significant US bombing news of the day… “A misdirected airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition earlier this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria, the U.S. military said Thursday. U.S. Central Command said coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, for a strike intended to target IS militants south of their Tabqa stronghold, near the extremists’ de facto capital, Raqqa. The strike hit an SDF position instead, killing 18. Central Command said the strike was launched Tuesday. Several nations have lent their air power to the U.S.-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State group. It was not clear which air force was behind the strike.” (AP https://yhoo.it/2obGOj3)

What Political Science Can Teach Us About The US Airstrikes on Syria (Global Dispatches Podcast http://bit.ly/2pb6osS)

Can These Three African First Ladies Can End Female Genital Mutilation? (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2pbT07H)