MINUSCA Troops Reach Site of Central African Republic Killings

The village of Nzakoundou was targeted by armed elements of the 3R rebel group on December 21 in an attack that killed 23 civilians, the UN said in a press statement, adding the village was set ablaze.

Vladimir Monteiro, spokesperson for the UN's MINUSCA mission in the Central African Republic, also told AFP around 3,500 villagers had fled into the bush.

UN forces were on Thursday deployed to "secure the area" and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid, according to Monteiro.

The total number of dispatched troops has not been specified, but they are made up entirely of members from the Cameroonian contingent, Monteiro said, adding that they will later be reinforced by Bangladeshi and Senegalese soldiers.

Civil war has plagued the CAR, one of the world's poorest countries, since a Muslim-dominated armed coalition called the Seleka ousted former president Francois Bozize in 2013.

Bozize raised his own predominantly Christian and animist militias, known as the anti-Balaka, to regain power.

Civilians are often victims of the conflict, with the United Nations accusing all sides of perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The 3R is one of the most powerful of the armed groups and criminal gangs produced by the conflict, although fighting has become less intense in recent years.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera repelled a siege of the capital Bangui by a rebel coalition in late 2020 with the help of Russian paramilitaries, but some remote areas of the country remain outside government control.

After looking to the likes of Russian group Wagner, Bangui has more recently sought to diversify its strategic partnerships and is now said to be in talks with US private military company Bancroft.