GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM has condemned in the strongest possible terms a grenade attack on a humanitarian convoy in Dissikou in the Central African Republic (CAR) that yesterday left two people dead and seven people injured.
“It was with shock and outrage that I learned about the attack on the convoy. This relocation is a humanitarian initiative to evacuate this community and should be respected by all armed groups in CAR. I condemn this heinous and barbaric act and offer my profound condolences to the loved ones of those killed,” said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing.
The 18-truck convoy, carrying 1,259 civilians from Bangui’s PK12 neighbourhood to Kabo and Moyen-Sido in the northeast of CAR, left Bangui at noon on Sunday (27/4) with a UN-MISCA military escort. It is expected to arrive in Kabo shortly and in Moyen-Sido this evening.
IOM is providing the logistics for the operation, at the request of the UN, and an IOM doctor and nurse travelling with the convoy provided medical assistance to the wounded following the attack.
The UN decision to urgently relocate people trapped in PK12 – an area of less than 1 km2 in northern Bangui – was carried out to save the lives of Muslims and ethnic minorities, unable to leave the area without being attacked and killed. Over 20 people have died in attacks on the community since January.
Many of the people in PK12 were not from the area, but had fled there when violence broke out in Bangui in December and January. The majority of the population are of peul and nomad origin and for many their first language is Arabic.
PK12 community leaders selected the destinations to which they wished to be relocated and the UN arranged pre-movement visits to ensure that they would be welcomed by host communities. The first relocation of 93 people from PK12 to Bambari took place last week.
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