Over 15,000 civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR) are facing acute risk as they are surrounded and being threatened by armed groups, according to a statement from the United Nations' children agency (UNHCR), on Tuesday
"In the Central African Republic, and based on monitoring by the UNHCR-led Protection Cluster, more than 15,000 people in 18 locations in the northwest and southwest of the country are at present surrounded and being threatened by armed groups," said UNICEF spokesman, Adrian Edwards.
"These populations are at very high risk of attack and urgently need better security," Edwards added.
Edwards said that: "Although violence has hit all communities in CAR, most of the people who are trapped are Muslims under threat from anti-Balaka militiamen."
The targeting of populations based on their religions has been happening since September last year, and affects both Christian and Muslim communities.
Since December 2012, violence and instability have forced close to a million people to flee within CAR and to neigbouring Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo.
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