UN peacekeeper killed in CAR

Published Apr 19, 2016

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Kampala - The UN is calling on the Central African Republic (CAR) authorities to bring the killers of a Moroccan UN peacekeeper to justice after he was gunned down by suspected militants associated with Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on Monday.

The peacekeeper from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) was seriously wounded, and later died of his wounds, when his MINUSCA patrol came under attack in the town of Rafai in Mbomou prefecture.

His death followed the UN force being dispatched to the nearby village of Agoumar after an earlier attack had been carried out allegedly by the LRA.

The LRA was driven out of Uganda by the Ugandan military in 2006 after carrying out mass atrocities against civilians, including the abduction of children for use as soldiers.

Its Ugandan leader Kony now uses the CAR as a base to carry out attacks.

Kony was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2005 but has evaded capture.

Kony has been subject to an Interpol Red Notice at the request of the ICC since 2006

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing in a statement released late on Monday.

“The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against those who are working towards peace and security in the Central African Republic are unacceptable,” the statement said.

The UN chief also offered his sincere condolences to the family of the victim and to Morocco.

African News Agency

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