VICE News
Crisis in the Central African Republic: Dispatch Four
2013 • E27 Dec 27, 2013 6m
On Christmas Eve, Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga gave a sermon in the Central African Republic's capital city of Bangui. He discussed the need for reconciliation and forgiveness, but the country's leaders are incapable of stopping—or unwilling to stop—the violence, even as the country spirals deeper into the abyss due to an endless series of revenge killings between Christians and Muslims. Two nights later, I took refuge in what had probably been a Bangui flophouse in better times. Gunfire cracked in the distance, bullets zipped by, and explosions shook the windows as I sat there in the darkness. At the time, no one seemed to know who was fighting, most people were in hiding, and everyone was scared. A French military helicopter circled overhead while I frantically gathered my belongings in case I needed to move in the middle of the night.