Muslim rebels stormed the compound at the Catholic Church of Fatima in the capital of Central African Republic on Wednesday, killing as many as 30 people in a hail of gunfire and grenades, according to The Associated Press.
Hundreds of civilians had sought refuge at the church compound from the violence ravaging Bangui's streets, the AP reported.
The attack on the church is the largest attack blamed on Muslim fighters since their Seleka coalition was ousted from power nearly five months ago, according to the AP.
Most of the sectarian violence in Bangui which has erupted since January when the rebels were forced from power has involved Christian militia fighters targeting Muslims, according to the AP. Previous attacks have launched tit-for-tat retaliatory violence in the capital of Bangui.
Many fear the new bloodshed will spark reprisal attacks on the city's few remaining Muslims, most of whom fled the city in a mass exodus earlier this year in what the U.N. described as an ethnic cleansing, the AP reported. In the hours that followed, Christian militia fighters began putting up road blockades around Bangui.
"We were in the church when were heard the shooting outside," the Rev. Freddy Mboula told the AP. "There were screams and after 30 minutes of gunfire there were bodies everywhere."
About 20 bodies were taken to one hospital in the city because the morgue was not in service, the AP reported. At a second hospital, a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters confirmed that at least three other bodies had been brought there.
Since the ouster of the Muslim rebels, a transitional government led by interim President Catherine Samba Panza has been tasked with organizing elections no later than February 2015, but many observers doubt such a vote can be held because of the ongoing violence, and because rebels destroyed scores of voting lists in the towns they ransacked across the country, according to the AP.
