Covid crisis and conflict expected to dominate African Union summit
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04/02/2021 - 09:07 Internally displaced people in South Darfur protesting against the end of the joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping mission. - AFP/File 4 min African leaders will focus on the continent s Covid-19 response at their virtual summit, hosted from Addis Ababa, this weekend. They will also examine security crises that have been overlooked during the pandemic. Advertising Read more
The two-day African Union summit takes place one year after Egypt recorded the first case of Covid-19 in Africa, prompting widespread fears that member states health systems would quickly be overwhelmed.
CENTRAL African Republic forces (CAR) have killed around 44 rebels who were trying to blockade the capital Bangui, the government reported on Monday evening.
They are protesting against the re-election of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was declared the winner of the controversial December 27 poll last week.
Opposition groups are angry at the exclusion of former president Francois Bozize from the poll.
He ruled from 2003 until he was ousted by a rebel alliance known as Seleka, sparking a conflict between mainly Muslim and Christian armed groups.
A peace accord was signed in Sudan in 2019 which was thought to have brought an end to years of conflict in CAR.
Beyond the bang-bang: Reporting from the front lines of peace. This article is part of our peacebuilding coverage, reporting on how atrocities can be prevented, how societies can be made more resilient, and how peace can be sustainably built.
BANGUI
At least 100,000 people have fled their homes in Central African Republic as a rebel coalition calling for the resignation of the president launches attacks around the county, throwing into question almost two years of peace efforts.
The capital city, Bangui, has come under fire and major towns are occupied by the coalition of some of CAR’s strongest rebel groups, which formed shortly before December elections won by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra but contested by the opposition.