Violence between rival militias in the long-unstable country have left at least 25 dead in a 48-hour-period around the town of Bambari, the UN force MINUSCA said in a statement October 29. Among the dead are police, militia members and civilians.
"Six gendarmes and four civilians lost their lives on Friday morning in an ambush on the Bambari-Grimari road," MINUSCA said. "The day before, clashes between elements of the anti-balaka and ex-Seleka [militias] caused 15 deaths and a number of wounded."
In another incident October 27, a seven-year-old child was injured when UN peacekeepers were attacked near the Bambari airport.
The CAR has been in turmoil since 2013, when its Christian president, Francois Bozize, was overthrown by the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels. The country has been locked in a deadly back-and-forth ever since, with Christian and Muslim militias engaging in battles and taking revenge on each other’s citizens. The election in February of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who promised to disarm the warring religious factions and bring peace to the country, has not ended the violence. MINUSCA began its mission in the country in 2014.
Earlier this week, four people were killed and 14 injured in anti-UN demonstrations and violence in the capital, Bangui. Five peacekeepers were among the injured. Since the beginning of this year, at least 108 sex abuse cases have been launched against UN peacekeepers in the country.
In a statement, the UN condemned the unrest, calling it "another attempt by enemies of peace to reverse the Central African Republic's return to constitutional order. The Mission will act against those seeking to obstruct efforts by elected authorities to bring peace and stability to the country." MINUSCA said it would continue to carry out its mission in the country.
Earlier in October, 30 people were killed and 57 wounded in a Seleka attack on a town, and 11 people were killed later in a camp for displaced people in Ngakobo.
According to UN figures, 2.3 million people, more than half the country’s population, are in need in the CAR. The violence has created more than 450,000 refugees and more than 380,000 internally displaced persons.
