UN SEEKS MORE PEACEKEEPERS FOR CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

UNITED NATIONS SEEKS MORE PEACEKEEPERS FOR CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Bangui - The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic is requesting about 750 more troops to help fill a "security vacuum" worsened by the withdrawal of US Special Forces as violence surges again, according to a confidential cable obtained.

The additional troops are needed in the southeast after the withdrawal this year of U.S. and Ugandan troops hunting the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, according to the message from mission head Parfait Onanga-Anyanga to the UN's head of peacekeeping operations in New York.

Hundreds of people have been killed since May and more than half a million people have been displaced as largely sectarian violence moves into parts of Central African Republic that were spared the worst of the fighting that began in 2013. International observers warn that the country is approaching the levels of violence seen at the height of the conflict in 2014.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said he wanted to "shine a spotlight on an under-reported emergency" in Central African Republic, which has seen a 37 percent increase in refugees and displaced people in the past three months.

INCREASED ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS

Rebel groups control an estimated 70 percent of the country, according to international human rights organisations. The UN mission has acknowledged that its authorised force of 10 750 military personnel and 2,080 police is not enough in the country roughly the size of Texas.

The request for more troops would increase the total of uniformed peacekeepers to about 13,500.

"It's pretty clear that the mission, with its current capacity, is overstretched," said Human Rights Watch researcher Lewis Mudge. "They simply don't have the means to address the increased attacks on civilians."

The fighting is mostly between predominantly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels and majority Christian anti-Balaka fighters over resources and trade routes in the countryside.

The existence of the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group in the region is also a concern. The US and Ugandan militaries in pulling out of the hunt for the LRA said the group had largely been neutralized. However, leader Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, remains one of Africa's most-wanted fugitives. The UN has reported kidnappings by the LRA in the region since the pullout.

In his cable, Onanga-Anyanga wrote that "new actors are emerging to fill the security vacuum (in the southeast), creating upheaval in a once relatively calm region." Those include offshoots of the ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka fighters.

PEACEKEEPING BUDGETS

The UN peacekeeping mission needs an "urgent increase in military capabilities given the deteriorating security situation and escalating violence against civilians, humanitarians and peacekeepers," said Evan Cinq-Mars?, the UN advocate and policy adviser at the non-profit Center for Civilians in Conflict.

But any request for more resources for the UN mission is challenged by pressure from the Trump administration to cut peacekeeping budgets, even though the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, met with Central African Republic President Faustin Touadera in March and reaffirmed US support for the country.

THE UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION DID NOT COMMENT.

The additional peacekeepers, if granted, also may be used to push out the ex-Seleka rebel group Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic. Onanga-Anyanga's cable said the mission's force commander is "confident the armed groups can be ousted from Bria" town in the southeast. The UN peacekeepers earlier this year forced the ex-Seleka rebel group Union for the Peace in Central African Republic out of the central mining town of Bambari. Mudge, who recently visited Bambari, said the town is doing better now with the peacekeepers and state security forces back in control.

"Efforts to oust (rebels) from major towns, as long as there are sufficient blue helmets to maintain peace, may increase stability in the east," Mudge said, referring to the peacekeepers.

Zambian Peacekeepers Get A-PLUS in Central African Republic

ZAMBIAN PEACEKEEPERS GET A-PLUS

ZAMBIA Army commander Paul Mihova has commended Zambian troops deployed to Central African Republic (CAR) on a peacekeeping mission for their professionalism and dedication to duty in ensuring peace is restored in that country.

General Mihova said Zambia Army is always called for peacekeeping missions in troubled areas because of exemplary performance and competence of the soldiers. He was speaking when he addressed Zambian troops deployed as peacekeepers in Central African Republic (CAR). This is contained in a statement issued by Zambia Army spokesperson Chris Musonda yesterday.

And deputy force commander of the United Nations Multi-Dimensional Integrated and Stabilization Mission in Central Africa (MINUSCA) Ahmed Shafiuddin praised the troops for safe-guarding lives of the civilian populace in the mission area despite the hostile environment.

He said the Zambian troops have demonstrated high levels of professionalism, especially during the 2015 crisis, resulting in the peace people are enjoying in Birao town. General Ahmed Shafiuddin was speaking recently when he conferred United Nations’ medals on the Zambian peacekeepers in Central African Republic.

Meanwhile, Vakaga provincial administrator Mahamat Ousmane said the people of CAR are happy with the efforts and goodwill demonstrated by the Zambian troops in ensuring peace is restored. He said this when Gen Mihova paid a courtesy call on him in Central African Republic Vakaga Province.

04 UN peacekeepers killed in Central African Republic

04 UN PEACEKEEPERS KILLED IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

A Christian rebel group in the Central African Republic ambushed a U.N. convoy, sparking a firefight and kidnappings that left four peacekeepers dead, eight injured and one missing, the United Nations said Tuesday.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said eight fighters from the anti-Balaka rebel group were also killed in the battle Monday night. The U.N. peacekeeping mission said the remaining attackers fled into the bush.

The U.N. mission sent a helicopter and additional troops to secure the site near Bangassou, about 474 kilometers (295 miles) east of the capital, Bangui, and were continuing to search for the missing peacekeeper, Dujarric said. In the initial ambush and firefight, one Cambodian peacekeeper was killed and seven Moroccans and one Cambodian were injured, he said.

Three Cambodian soldiers and one Moroccan peacekeeper were also reported missing, according to U.N. and Cambodian officials. Dujarric said three of the missing peacekeepers were later found dead. He said he did not know their nationalities. The injured peacekeepers were evacuated by helicopter to the capital and are now receiving medical aid, he said, and the United Nations is coordinating with government officials "to ensure the perpetrators are arrested and brought to justice."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement late Tuesday strongly condemning the attack and stressing "that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime." He urged Central African Republic authorities "to swiftly bring those responsible to justice." The country descended into sectarian conflict in 2013 when Muslim rebels overthrew the nation's Christian president.

The United Nations launched a peacekeeping mission there in 2014 and now has more than 12,000 troops deployed to protect civilians from violence between Christian and Muslim factions. Some 890,000 people have been displaced inside the country and into neighboring Cameroon, the U.N. says.

The latest fighting began in February and Human Rights Watch said last week that at least 45 people have been killed and 11,000 displaced in attacks by armed groups that have also targeted civilians.

One predominantly Peul faction of the mostly Muslim Seleka group has been fighting since late 2016 with another faction that has aligned itself with the Christian anti-Balaka group as they vie for control of the central part of the country, the rights group said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced news of the attack in video remarks published on his official Facebook page. He said the Cambodians were part of an engineering unit that was helping to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The ambush took place as the Cambodians were on the way back to their base with an escort of Moroccan soldiers.

Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Cambodian National Defense Ministry, said the slain peacekeeper was a captain and his body was being sent home. Cambodia has deployed 12 soldiers to the central African nation in recent months, he said.

Over the weekend, four international aid groups said they would temporarily withdraw their workers from parts of northern Central African Republic because of increasing attacks targeting them. The four — Solidarities International, Intersos, Danish Church Aid and Person in Need Relief Mission — said they were moving to Bangui.

United Nations may approve force for Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS MAY APPROVE FORCE FOR CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

UNITED NATIONS - France is predicting that the U.N. Security Council will vote unanimously Thursday to authorize a nearly 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force for Central African Republic, which has been torn by mounting violence between Christians and Muslims.

The 10,000 U.N. troops and 1,800 police would take over from more than 5,000 African Union soldiers but not until Sept. 15.

France, the country's former colonial power which drafted the resolution, scheduled the vote for Thursday morning. A separate 2,000-strong French force in the Central African Republic would be authorized to use "all necessary means" to support the new U.N. force, to be known as MINUSCA.

Central African Republic has been in chaos since a March 2013 coup, when mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and launched a brutal regime. Christian Anti-Balaka militiamen attacked Seleka strongholds in the capital, Bangui, in early December, and as the rebel government crumbled in January the anti-Balaka stepped up the violence, forcing tens of thousands of Muslims to flee.

The draft resolution expresses serious concern at multiple violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by both former Seleka elements and anti-Balaka militia including killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, sexual violence against women and children, rape and attacks on civilians, "in particular but not limited to Muslims," and attacks on places of worship.

The draft resolution "demands that all militias and armed groups put aside their arms, cease all forms of violence and destabilizing activities immediately and release children from their ranks."

The Security Council wants a strong mandate and the draft would authorize the new U.N. force to protect civilians and support the disarmament of combatants and the restoration of peace and law and order. It would also authorize MINUSCA to help investigate violations of human rights and humanitarian law by armed groups including former Seleka rebel and the anti-Balaka.

While U.N. peacekeepers and police will not take over until Sept. 15, the draft resolution will establish the U.N. mission, to be known as MINUSCA, immediately. It will take over all activities of the U.N. political office in Bangui, including supporting the political transition process, humanitarian assistance and human rights monitoring.

The draft welcomes Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for "revitalization and acceleration of the political and reconciliation process in order to lay the ground for an end to the conflict," and it urges the transitional authorities to accelerate preparations for free and fair elections no later than February 2015.

Once MINUSCA is established, the African Union force on the ground will receive logistical support from the United Nations. Many of its members are likely to become part of the new U.N. force after being checked to ensure they meet U.N. standards.

The draft resolution stresses "that all perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses must be held accountable and that some of these acts may amount to crimes under the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court."

It would authorize MINUSCA to help investigate violations of human rights and humanitarian law by armed groups, including ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka, "and to contribute to efforts to identify and prosecute perpetrators."

The draft notes that Central African Republic is a state party to the ICC and the court's prosecutor has opened a preliminary examination of alleged crimes committed in CAR since September 2012.