Clashes between rival armed groups in Bria, a strategic town in the eastern Central African Republic, have left dozens dead, a senior official said on Tuesday. The armed groups have withdrawn their men from the town centre and displaced people have started to return,” he said. More than two-thirds of the former French colony lies in the hands of armed groups, who typically claim ethnic or religious affiliations and often fight over mineral resources. Violence erupted there at the weekend between “ethnic groups”, the spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in CAR, Vladimir Monteiro said on Sunday. It followed a local split several months ago within a militia called the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (FPRC), several sources in Bria said.

Source: The Guardian January 28, 2020 11:48 UTC