"This is targeting of Muslims," Zabadi tells CNN. "They want the current (Muslim) president to step down or else they will keep slaughtering our people."
Zabadi spoke to CNN in a rare interview as a ceasefire negotiated between rival Muslim and Christian militias brought a brief respite to one town after two days of violent clashes. Bossangoa, a six-hour drive north of the capital Bangui, is important to the situation in the Central African Republic because the camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) here host about 40,000 people, 10% of the 400,000 IDPs across the country, according to the United Nations. The U.N. also says there are about 2.2 million people -- about half the country's population -- who are under threat.
When we are ushered in to meet Zabadi, he is listening to the radio, probably for updates on the intense fighting that has kicked off that day in Bangui.
French troops patrol C.A.R. streets
CNN team narrowly escapes CAR violence Crisis in the Central African Republic
He is friendly and chats at length to CNN's Nima Elbagir in Arabic. For the interview he dons his military cap and dark glasses and also lights a cigarette that he occasionally smokes during the interview. Around us are about 30 of his men -- carrying guns, grenades and some RPGs. Their "uniform" is anything but -- varying in color and design.
After the interview we go with the commander and his troops on what they call a patrol of the town -- they go round the town in a pick-up truck filled with some of their heavily armed men.
The colonel denies targeting Christians and ordering burning of villages. Asked about the arrival of French peacekeepingtroops, he is nonchalant, adding that people need to know the Muslim rebel militia Seleka is going nowhere. "We are this country's government. Leave power? Maybe if we are dead," he says defiantly.
On the drive from Bangui one sees many people walking on the road and lounging outside their homes -- men, women and children. As you continue though, it's mostly men sitting and standing outside their homes. We are told this is because the women go to fetch food and firewood while the men remain on guard against any possible attack on their homes.
About 100 kilometres from Bossangoa, the U.N. convoy in which we are traveling stops and we are told to wear our protective gear. Back in the car, we travel past village after village of deserted homes and burnt-out huts. The only sign of life we see are goats and occasionally some pigs.
Before we start filming in Bossangoa, a U.N. official takes us to the headquarters of the Muslim Seleka militia -- everyone who comes into the town on official business has to first report to them. The Seleka sees itself as the local administration in the area.
After two days of intense fighting between Seleka and the anti-Balaka militias, the regional multinational force for Central Africa (FOMAC) has been able to negotiate a ceasefire to allow aid agencies to get there and assess the needs of those caught in the crossfire. We manage to film at the only hospital in the area, which is run by Médecins Sans Frontières. When we arrive we find a young man receiving first aid for a deep cut on his head -- it is from a machete. Beds in the in-patient section are full -- most of the patients there have received surgical treatment for bullet wounds. Aid agencies believe the number of sick and wounded could be higher in the surrounding villages but that they are afraid to venture out to seek help.
Similar stories of hardship can be seen in the IDP camps -- the one at the Catholic hospital hosts about 35,000 people. The people, mostly Christian, arrived en masse when the conflict began weeks ago.
Nearby at the Ecole Liberte school, the Muslim IDP makeshift camp mushroomed in two days from 2,500 people to about 10,000 people. Both camps are running out of everything you can think of -- food, water and medicine. And there is little shelter from the elements.
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