Fifteen Christians were gunned down while attending a church service in Bangui, Central African Republic on Tuesday, reports The Christian Post.
The Christians had been attending a worship service at Notre Dame de Fatima church when the attack occurred.
"Filled with panic, some Christians began to flee until bullets and grenades began to fall in the parish grounds, trapping those who remained in the compound," recalled Moses Aliou, one of the priests at the church at the time of the attack. Another priest, identified as Albert Toungoumale Baba, was one of the 15 killed when the gunmen opened fire.
The gunmen responsible for the attack have yet to be identified. The Christian Post also reports that the Central African Republic is in the middle of a civil war and there has been unrest and even violent clashes between CAR’s army and the Muslim PK5 community.
This is also not the first time the Notre Dame de Fatima church has been the target of an attack. In 2014, over a dozen people, also including a priest, were killed there.
"Once again it is the civilian population, especially women and children, who pay the price of violence," said Najat Rochdi, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the CAR in a telling statement.
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Publication date: May 2, 2018