UN to send 900 more troops to Central African Republic

By Sorwar Alam

ANKARA (AA) - The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday to send an additional 900 peacekeepers to a UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR).

“The Council decided to increase the Mission’s troop limit by 900 military personnel, resulting in an authorized troop ceiling of 11,650 military personnel, including 480 military observers and military staff officers, 2,080 police personnel and 108 corrections officers,” the UN said in a statement.

It also approved an extension of the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) until November 15, 2018.

The Security Council reiterated its "serious concern at the dire humanitarian situation in the CAR, the consequences of the deterioration of the security situation on humanitarian access, as well as the violence against humanitarian workers and emphasized in particular the current humanitarian needs of the more than 600,000 internally displaced persons and nearly 500,000 refugees in neighboring countries and further expressed concern at the consequences of the flow of refugees on the situation in Chad, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as other countries of the region.”

It also expressed concern that women and girls continue to be violently targeted and victims of sexual and gender‑based violence in the CAR.

This year, a total of 12 peacekeeping soldiers of the MINUSCA, which is accused of sexual exploitation, were killed in the Central African Republic.

The country has been wracked by violence since Muslim Seleka rebels ousted then-President Francois Bozize, a Christian, in 2013.

Fierce fighting has continued between the Seleka and Christian anti-Balaka rebels, forcing nearly half the country's population to depend on humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

Since August, more than 500 former combatants have joined a disarmament program that seeks to reintegrate fighters into civilian and military life.