Major parts of the tiny southwestern Central African Republic (CAR) village of Guen is a ghost town today, like so many other Muslim villages across the nation. They were the victims of a massacre.
Troops from an unnamed Christian militia attacked the village, rounding up scores of locals, and forcing them to lie face-down on the ground. Then one by one, they were shot. At least 70 people were killed.
Guen is an historically mixed village, with Christians and Muslims living side-by-side. The religious blood-letting in the country has had some factions setting up militias to massacre Muslims in revenge for the brief takeover of the country by Muslim-majority Balaka rebels.
Most people on both sides are trying their best not to get sucked into this ugliness, and hundreds of Muslim civilians in Guen found shelter in the town’s Christian church, where the priest has done his best to keep the militias out.