UN approves sending in troops to quell raging violence
The UN Security Council unanimously approved on Thursday a nearly 12,000- strong UN peacekeeping force for Central African Republic, which has been torn by mounting violence between Christians and Muslims.
The 10,000 UN troops and 1,800 police will take over from 5,000 African Union soldiers — but not until Sept. 15.
A separate 2,000- strong French force in the Central African Republic was authorized to use “all necessary means” to support the new UN force.
Central African Republic has been in chaos since a March 2013 coup, when mostly Muslim rebels seized power and set up a brutal regime. Christian militiamen attacked rebel strongholds in early December. As the rebel government crumbled in January, the Christian militiamen stepped up the violence, forcing tens of thousands of Muslims to flee.
France, the country’s former colonial power, took the lead in mobilizing international support to address the crisis, but its ambassador, Gérard Araud, said the security situation remains volatile.
“African Union troops supported by the French troops are doing tremendous work to protect the civilian population but it’s not yet enough,” Araud said after the vote. “The resolution we have just adopted is a key turning point.”
Clashes between Christian and Muslim fighters in the central town of Dekoa that began Tuesday have left at least 30 people dead, a priest said Thursday. Most of the dead were civilians, killed by Muslims who fired into a crowd of people they mistook for Christian militants, Rev. Everaldo De Suza of St. Anne Church said.
A Christian commander confirmed the fighting but denied that his forces had started it.
Toussaint Kongo- Doudou, Central African Republic’s foreign minister, who urged the council last month to send UN peacekeepers, thanked members for adopting the resolution, saying it “lays the foundation for a solution and a way out of the crisis.”
UN Secretary- General Ban Ki- moon, who visited Central African Republic on April 5, again called for “an immediate cessation of the killings, targeted attacks and other atrocious human rights violations that continue with total impunity,” his spokesman said.