2nd Prize General News Stories
William Daniels
France, Panos Pictures for Time
17 November 2013, Central African Republic
Demonstrators gather on a street in Bangui to call for the resignation of interim President Michel Djotodia following the murder of Judge Modeste Martineau Bria by members of Seleka. Bangui, Central African Republic.
The Central African Republic has seen more than its fair share of coups and unrest over the five and a half decades since its independence from France. The current crisis, however, triggered by yet another coup, is starting to set in position a well armed, mainly Muslim militia that is refusing to disarm against Anti-balaka, Christian vigilante groups defending the country's majority Christian population. The UN has warned of a potential slide into genocide and France has sent 1,600 troops to protect civilians and disarm the different militia. Bordering on other highly volatile regions in central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Chad, the conflict is ringing alarm bells across the continent and beyond.