Humanitarian agencies appeal for $152m in CAR relief

The UN spokesperson office said on Friday that humanitarian organizations have appealed for more than 150 million U.S. dollars to aid people amid continuing violence in the Central African Republic (CAR). "The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that humanitarian actors in the CAR urgently need 152 million U.S. dollars to help save lives and ensure the protection of 1.2 million people in the country during the next three months," the UN spokesperson office told reporters here. Following the inter-communal violence in December, an estimated 370,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes into makeshift camps in the capital Bangui alone, according to OCHA. Another 400,000 people are internally displaced across the country. "Despite the growing insecurity in the country, humanitarian organizations have reinforced their presence and continue to provide assistance to vulnerable people," said the spokesperson office. "The resources requested will allow aid organizations to provide a priority response in multiple sectors to the people displaced by the escalating inter-communal armed conflict as well as to host communities in Bangui and nine districts in western CAR, " it said. Earlier this month in Bangui, Christians and Muslims launched reprisal attacks against each other in and around the city, killing at least 450 people and driving nearly 160,000 others from their homes in only a week. The UN Security Council passed a resolution authorizing increased military action by African and French troops in the CAR to try to end near-anarchy amid an upsurge in Muslim-Christian violence, killings, torture and rapes. The CAR, with a population of 4.6 million, has been marred by coups and rebellions. The situation took a sharp turn for worse in March when the rebel group Seleka Alliance ousted President Francois Bozize. A transitional government has been entrusted with a mandate to restore law and order and pave the way for democratic elections, only to see a resumption of armed clashes between the ex-rebel Seleka troops and Christian militia, rendering half of the country 's population into dire humanitarian situation.