"This visit undoubtedly testifies to our commitment and determination to work effectively to strengthen the cooperation and communication system around the priorities defined in resolution 2709, with regard to the protection of civilians, support for the extension of State authority, the deployment
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
BANGUI (Reuters) - More than 14% of polling stations in the Central African Republic failed to operate during Sunday’s presidential and legislative election due to armed rebels who attacked voters and barred electoral staff, the electoral commission said on Monday.
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Around 800 out of a total 5,408 polling stations nationwide did not open, Theophile Momokouama, an executive of the electoral authority, told a news conference in Bangui.
“There were localities where voters were brutalized, threatened with death. The electoral staff were forbidden to deploy on the ground,” Momokouama said.
The diamond- and gold-rich nation of 4.7 million has struggled to stabilise due to a successive waves of militia violence since 2013 that have killed thousands and forced more than a million from their homes.
Central African Republic President Touadera re-elected
Only about half of the country’s electorate, or around 910,000 people, registered to vote in the elections and hundreds of thousands of people in areas held by rebels were unable to cast their ballots.
The Central Africa Republic has experienced years of armed conflict. The government signed a peace agreement with more than a dozen armed groups in early 2019 but violence is rife and rebels control vast areas of territory outside of Bangui.
Russia and Rwanda last month dispatched support, comprising heavily-armed Rwandan troops and Russian paramilitaries, to shore up Touadera s government.
Despite the presence of UN peacekeepers, as well as French, Russian and Rwandan soldiers violence persists
Centrafrique: Dans l enfer de Bangui, les rebelles de Bozizé assaillent Touadéra sauvé par les forces de la Minusca commandées par Mankeur Ndiaye – le soleil lesoleil.sn - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lesoleil.sn Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rebel forces in the Central African Republic launched a coordinated attack on the outskirts of the capital, Bangui, before being pushed back, the United Nations mission in the country has said.
Wednesday’s assault marked the first time the rebels have struck so close to the city since President Faustin Archange Touadera was re-elected on December 27, a vote that followed what the authorities say was an attempted coup.
“The attack was repelled by Blue Helmets together with the Central African forces,” the spokesman for the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission said in a statement.
The dawn attacks on army units, 9km (5.5 miles) and 12km (7.5 miles) from the capital, targeted two army brigades but the rebel forces were repelled, Interior Minister Henri Wanzet Linguissara told AFP news agency.