Central African Republic

A military convoy struck a roadside bomb in the northwest of the conflict-wracked Central African Republic, leaving two police officers and three Russian paramilitaries dead, the government said Sunday.

Child displacement in the Central African Republic (CAR) has now reached its highest level since 2014, according to the latest estimates from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), warning of the mounting risks children face.

Recent fighting between government forces and rebels in northern Central African Republic (CAR) has forced more than 2,000 refugees into neighboring Chad over the past week, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. 

In Central African Republic, the government relies heavily on Russian mercenaries and weaponry to fight rebels. UN experts are now accusing the Russians of gross human rights violations.

The US has the neutrality and influence to mediate in the CAR. It would also be a chance for Biden to show that diplomacy is back.

UN-appointed independent rights experts on Wednesday raised concerns over the recruitment and use of private military and foreign security contractors by the Government of the Central African Republic, and their apparent close contacts with UN peacekeepers there.

Despite many attempts to stabilise it, the country remains trapped in the vicious cycle of violence that began in late 2012. Violent rejection of the December 2020 election results threatens the 2019 Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation.  

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The country’s current government has accused him of being behind a recently failed offensive by the so-called Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) against President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who won re-election in a December 2020 vote marred by insecurity and low turnout. Spokesman Serge Bozanga confirmed to the AFP news agency on Sunday that Bozizé had agreed in February to become the CPC’s “general coordinator”.

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Almost all polling stations in Central African Republic were able to open for a second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday, the electoral body said, amid heavy security to deter rebels who disrupted polls in December.

Tomorrow (12 March), the Security Council is set to adopt a resolution raising the troop ceiling of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), increasing the mission’s existing military component by 2,750 and its police component by 940. … The decision to provide the mission with the troop and police reinforcements comes during a period of heightened instability in the CAR, which has seen a rash of violence led by a new coalition of armed groups, … .