UN peacekeepers accused of death, rape in African mission

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UN peacekeepers accused of murder, rapeAmnesty International is accusing U.N. peacekeepers of indiscriminately killing a 16-year-old boy and his father and raping a 12-year-old girl in separate incidents in Central African Republic.

A statement Tuesday said the two incidents on Aug. 2 and 3 occurred as the peacekeepers were carrying out an operation in the capital, Bangui.

Amnesty International said a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission told the human rights organization that it has opened an internal investigation into the alleged rape and killings. The spokesperson also told the group that the Bangui operation was carried out by police peacekeepers from Rwanda and Cameroon.

U.N. peacekeepers have been in the country since September to try to calm unprecedented, deadly violence between Christians and Muslims.

The girl had been hiding in a bathroom when a man wearing a U.N. peacekeeping helmet and vest "took her outside and raped her behind a truck," the group's statement said.

The next day, after armed clashes with residents had killed a soldier from Cameroon and injured several others, peacekeepers went to the area and "began shooting indiscriminately in the street where the killings had taken place," the statement said.

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