UNITED NATIONS (AP) — An unidentified armed group attacked a UN peacekeeping patrol Monday in the Central African Republic, killing a Rwandan peacekeeper, the United Nations said.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said initial reports indicated the UN patrol returned fire and killed three of the attackers.
The attack came as peacekeepers provided a protective presence around the town of Sam-Ouandja in Haute Kotto prefecture in eastern Central African Republic, Dujarric said.
Peacekeepers were deployed to Sam-Ouandja last week in response to an attack on the town by an armed group, which fled after the peacekeepers intervened, he said. He said the UN mission had expanded the security perimeter around the town over the past five days to protect the community and support aid deliveries.
Valentine Rugwabiza, head of the UN mission, strongly condemned the attack. She said peacekeepers will remain in Sam-Ouandja and the mission is engaging with authorities to deploy national forces to the area, according to Dujarric.
The mineral-rich but impoverished Central African Republic has faced deadly inter-communal fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and forced President François Bozizé out of office. Most Christian militias then retaliated, also targeting civilians on the streets. Thousands of people were killed and most Muslims in the capital fled in fear.
A UN peacekeeping mission known as MINUSCA was deployed in 2014 and now has nearly 17,500 uniformed personnel in the country. His mandate was extended for 12 months until November.
After the constitutional court rejected Bozizé’s presidential candidacy in December 2020, President Faustin-Archange Touadera won a second term with 53% of the vote. But he continues to face opposition from a rebel coalition linked to Bozizé.
Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, whose leader led a short-lived mutiny in Russia last month, helped keep Touadera in power. After the mutiny, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state broadcaster RT that hundreds of Russian fighters would remain in the Central African Republic.