UNITED NATIONS, Dec 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three Burundian peacekeepers have been killed by “unidentified armed combatants” in the Central African Republic, the United Nations said.
“Three peacekeepers from Burundi were killed and two others were wounded” following attacks in the south and centre of the country, the UN said in a statement.
The assaults come a day after major rebel groups called off a ceasefire ahead of national elections on Sunday.
Sunday’s elections are deemed a key test of CAR’s ability to recover stability.
In the week before voting day, incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera accused his predecessor Francois Bozize of plotting a coup, a militia briefly seized the country’s fourth biggest town, and Russia and Rwanda sent military personnel to help shore up his government.
Mineral-rich but rated the world’s second-poorest country on the Human Development Index, the CAR has been chronically unstable since independence 60 years ago.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attacks by unidentified armed combatants on UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR), said his spokesman.
Friday’s attacks on the national defense and security forces of the CAR and the UN peacekeeping force in the country left three peacekeepers from Burundi killed and two others wounded, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement.
The secretary-general expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased peacekeepers, as well as to the people and government of Burundi, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured, said Dujarric.
Guterres recalled that attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime. He called on the CAR authorities to investigate these heinous attacks and swiftly bring perpetrators to justice, said the statement.
The secretary-general reaffirmed the continued commitment of the UN to supporting efforts to advance peace and stability in the CAR, it said. — NNN-AGENCIES
