Seleka militia. Photo: Wikipedia.

JNS.org – Muslim militants murdered 26 Christians in a village in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Friday.

Members from the former Seleka militia faction killed civilians from the Christian village of Ndomete, 220 miles north of the capital Bangui.

In calling the event a massacre, Albert Mokpeme, spokesman for the presidency, confirmed the number of victims, saying “the Seleka (rebels) went door to door. The village chief was among the victims.”

The republic’s UN peacekeeping mission dispatched troops to the area to suppress the violence that has also spread to nearby Kaga-Bandoro.

The agency “regrets the loss of human life and the wounded that were recorded and also denounces attacks against the humanitarian community and United Nations personnel,” the mission said in a statement.

Fighting between Muslim Seleka militants and Christian anti-Balaka militants has increased in the past year, but originally ensued in 2013 after Seleka overthrew the Christian-majority CAR government led by President François Bozizé and their leader, Michael Djotodia, became the first Muslim president of the country.

CAR’s current president, Faustin Archange Touadera, recently visited the area in an effort to promote reconciliation.