Congolese peacekeepers linked to mass murders in CAR

Activist group Human Rights Watch has raised the alarm over the murders of at least 18 people at the hands of peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) between December 2013 and June 2015.

In a statement, the group said soldiers from the Republic of Congo, who had been sent to CAR as peacekeepers, had wreaked havoc in the area, enforcing disappearances and killing citizens in large numbers.

A grave found near Boali was exhumed on February 16, 2016, and revealed the bodies of 12 people who had allegedly been detained by peacekeepers in March 2014.

The discovery brought into question claims made by the peacekeepers that the detainees had escaped, with Human Rights Watch documenting the torture and subsequent death of two anti-balaka leaders in Bossangoa in December 2013.