An armed militia killed 34 civilians in an attack on Tuesday in CentralAfrican Republic, a government spokesman said, issuing a deadline for thegroup's leader to give up the perpetrators to the authorities.
The attack was the most deadly since 14 armed groups agreed a peace dealin February that was meant to bring stability to a country rocked by violencesince 2013, when mainly Muslim Selaka rebels ousted the then president,prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militia.
The group 'Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation,' or 3R, attacked anumber of villages in the northwest region Pahoua, seeking revenge for thekilling of an ethnic Peul, government spokesman Ange Kazagui said at a jointbriefing on Wednesday with the United Nation's MINUSCA peacekeeping mission.
The government calls on 3R leader Sidiki Abass to "arrest and handover those responsible for this massacre to the authorities in the next 72hours or risk being held personally responsible", Kazagui said.
The bloodshed will further test the peace agreement, which has alreadycome under strain due to disagreements over representation in the cabinet.
"MINUSCA asks 3R in particular and all the armed groups in generalto show strict respect for international human rights and the reconciliationand peace agreement," MINUSCA spokeswoman Uwolowulakana Ikavi-Gbetanousaid at the briefing.
The government and rebels expressed optimism when the accord was signedon Feb. 5. But lasting peace is not guaranteed: similar agreements in 2014,2015 and 2017 all broke down.
The 3R group emerged in late 2015 to protect the minority Peulpopulation, who are mostly Muslim cattle herders, from attacks by Christiananti-balaka militias.
Thousands of people have died because of the unrest in the diamond andgold-producing country, and a fifth of the 4.5 million population have fledtheir homes.
