UN deploys peacekeepers to the north of the country after the massacre of 23 civilians by an armed group

Additional forces to prevent further massacres. The United Nations deployed peacekeepers to the northwest of the Central African Republic, where 23 civilians were killed on December 21 in a massacre attributed to the armed group 3R, the organization said on Wednesday (December 27).

“The village of Nzakoundou was the target of a deadly attack attributed to armed elements of the 3R”explained the UN in a press release, specifying that the village was burned and that the rest of the population “would have fled towards the bush”. The peacekeepers of the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), whose number has not been specified, “progress towards the village” in order to “strengthen security in the area and facilitate humanitarian access to the population”details the UN mission.

The 3R (Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation) armed group is one of the most powerful among a multitude of rebel groups or criminal gangs which terrorize the population in this vast Central African country. The group joined the rebellion of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) which launched a vast offensive against Bangui in December 2020 to try to overthrow the power of President Faustin Archange Touadéra.

Rebels and criminal gangs continue to commit crimes against civilians and harass security forces and their Russian allies – “mercenaries” from the private security company Wagner according to the UN. The latter, like the Central African military and armed groups, are regularly accused by the United Nations and international NGOs of crimes and abuses against the population.