Around it are piles of rubble, where opportunistic weeds grow. Even so, Muhammad Abdullahye is contented. He sips from a steaming glass of tea to mark the end of the Ramadan fast. He is home. According to UN figures, 76 people were murdered. Armed groups claiming to represent the Christian community then arose, raising the spectre of sectarian war. A French-led military intervention and the deployment of a large UN peacekeeping force helped to stabilize the country and stage presidential elections.
In a population of 4. Abdullahye returned home in late April. Ten other families have followed suit. These small steps were followed this year by an agreement to end fighting between two villages on the outskirts of Bangassou where there were massacres in , and by joint peace committees set up in the city itself.
Before he fled, Abdullahye, a trader, had the biggest home in the neighborhood. Today, the only thing left of it are its bare walls, which he saved by paying a sum to the militia. He also lost his stores. His neighbor, Younous Issa, had no money to pay off his assailants. As a result, his property was demolished, down to the very last brick, and he is rebuilding it. Even so, he says that times are better and he is in good standing with the gunmen. At the national level, the government and 14 militia groups in February signed a peace deal β the eighth in the series.
The accord remains intact, despite a massacre in the northwest of the country last week attributed to the 3R militia, which claims to represent the Fulani community. Many Muslims remain holed up at the seminary in Bangassou, too afraid, or unable, to return home.
Two children play at the site of the "Petit Seminaire" in Bangassou on May 17, Ruined houses in the Tokoyo district of Bangassou following anti-balaka attacks on May 17, A man carries out his ablutions in his ruined house in the Tokoyo district of Bangassou on May 17, Updated 30 May In a troubled Central African city, Muslims return after flight.
