Séléka
[citation needed] The Séléka first emerged on 15 September 2012 under the name alliance CPSK-CPJP; when it published a press release taking responsibility for the attacks on three towns that day.
[17] On 15 December 2012 the group published its first press release using the full name "Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR" thus including the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR).
Muslims - who represent at most 15% of the country's population - have long been the victim of stigmatization and repressive policies, including great difficulty in obtaining legal documents, discrimination in the schooling system, and the systematic obligation to pay more than Christians at roadblocks.
[19]: 189 In the months after the coup, which brought Séléka figurehead Djotodia to power, fighters connected to the militia plundered villages and killed Christians as well as supporters of former president François Bozizé.
[29] NGOs including Global Witness have criticized Séléka's connections to the illegal logging sector, in which the group was said to have a "particular interest" even prior to the 2013 coup.
The sale of rough diamonds was temporarily suspended by the KPCS over fears of illicit trade by Séléka, Anti-balaka and other rebel groups.
[30]: 10 According to the above-cited UN report, poaching and wildlife trafficking (also including antelope species) could be seen as "central elements of the Séléka rebellion".
[32] Armed entrepreneurs have carved out personal fiefdoms in which they set up checkpoints, collect illegal taxes, and take in millions of dollars from the illicit coffee, mineral, and timber trades.
[34] Later in 2014, Noureddine Adam led the FPRC and began demanding independence for the predominantly Muslim north, a move rejected by another general, Ali Darassa.
[35] He formed another Ex-Séléka faction called the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC) which is dominant in and around Bambari[32] while the FPRC's capital is in Bria.
[39][38] In February 2017, Joseph Zoundeiko, the chief of staff of FPRC[40] who previously led the military wing of Séléka, was killed by MINUSCA after crossing one of the red lines.
"Séléka leaders promised a new beginning for the people of the Central African Republic, but instead have carried out large-scale attacks on civilians, looting, and murder", said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
[41] In July 2014, the government of Uganda declared that it was at war with Séléka, accusing them of forcing civilians to give food and medicine to the Lord's Resistance Army and of trading ivory and minerals with them.
While a report on national radio described the attackers only as armed members of the Fula ethnic group (in French: Peul), Mbetigaza said they were Séléka fighters, adding that eight villagers were kidnapped in Mala and dozens of others were missing.
[45] On 3 December 2015, the Séléka armed men killed eight civilians at a camp for displaced people and wounded one U.N. peacekeeper, just days after the pope visited the capital.
