Last year, Muslim militias helped overthrow the country's Christian president of the Central African Republic and marauded through Christian areas. Today, the circumstances are reversed, with Christian militias terrorizing Muslim communities and prompting a mass exodus.
French and African peacekeepers have mostly failed to stop the violence as the isolated country of 4 million continues to unravel.
Wazili Yaya, a Muslim, has witnesses the recent violence.
He has been custodian of the Ali Babalo Mosque in the capital Bangui since a wealthy merchant built it 19 years ago. Its painted arches are a testament to a Muslim community that makes up a minority of the population in this mainly Christian country — yet account for the vast majority of its traders and merchant class.
An unlocked door opens on a low white basin. This is where we prepare the corpses, he says. There were 40 this week. He pulls out his cell phone to show photos.
All the bodies show signs of violence far beyond what was needed to kill: castrations, decapitations, machete wounds to the head.
Each time he gets a body, he takes a photo of it.
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