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Unidentified “armed fighters” have killed three members of Burundi’s peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations said on Friday, hours after a rebel coalition fighting the government suspended a truce. unilateral and reiterated calls for the suspension of the scheduled general elections. which will take place on Sunday.
The attacks against UN peacekeepers and Central African Republic troops took place in Dekoa, central Kemo prefecture, and Bakouma, southern Mbomou prefecture, the UN said in a brief statement.
“Three Burundian peacekeepers were killed and two others were injured,” the statement said, without providing further details.
The attacks came as voters in the Central African Republic were preparing for presidential and legislative elections, seen as a key test of the country’s ability to regain stability after decades of political upheaval and armed conflict.
President Faustin-Archange Touadera, seeking another term, is the favorite to win the presidential election in a field of 17 candidates.
But several opposition groups, as well as a recently formed coalition of armed groups, the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), have called for the vote to be delayed after the Central African Republic’s high court rejected several nominations for the elections. .
Among those excluded from the competition is former President Francois Bozize, who was ousted in 2013 after a rebellion led by mainly Muslim Seleka fighters.
The CCP, formed on December 19 and made up of militia groups that together control two-thirds of the country, launched an offensive last week and threatened to march on the capital, Bangui.
The government called the move a “coup”, accusing Bozize of fueling the CCP rebellion to disrupt the elections.
The former president denied the claim.
The rebel alliance’s progress was halted with international aid: Russia and Rwanda sent troops to prop up the Touadera government, while the UN mission in South Sudan also sent 300 peacekeepers to the Central African Republic on Thursday to help the country. to “secure the elections.”
The CCP announced a brief unilateral truce on Wednesday, but canceled it on Friday, saying the government had “brazenly rejected” this “opportunity for peace.”
Hours later, the UN MINUSCA peacekeeping force said fighting resumed in Bakouma, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Bangui. Armed men had tried to advance down the main roads towards Bangui but were detained, according to MINUSCA, which has more than 12,000 uniformed soldiers in the country.
Three days before the elections in the Central African Republic 🇨🇫, @UNPOL #MINUSCA is intensifying its patrols and securing voter card collection centers to reassure the population of #Bangui and regions. pic.twitter.com/8a66GfvbxJ
– Champion Pascal (@UNPOL_RCA) Dec 24, 2020
Touadera, who has been campaigning in Bangui flanked by Russian, Rwandan and UN guards, has urged voters to come out and vote without fear on Sunday.
“They are trying to come to Bangui. You Central Africans must open your eyes, ”he told his supporters at his last campaign rally. “Help our armed forces, the UN MINUSCA peacekeepers, Rwanda and Russia. They are giving us a hand. Don’t let those armed fighters enter the city. “
The President of the Central African Republic, Faustin Archange Touadera, addresses supporters at a political rally at the stadium in Bangui, Central African Republic, on December 19, 2020 [Antonie Rolland/ Reuters]
Several opposition candidates had stopped their campaign some time ago, demanding a postponement of the elections. Meanwhile, Jean Serge Bokassa, the son of the country’s self-proclaimed emperor, withdrew from the race for security reasons. Opposition candidate Anicet Dologuele, backed by Bozize, is now Touadera’s strongest rival.
Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Bangui, said people “don’t feel like any kind of conflict … and they want to exercise their right to vote.”
“When you leave Bangui, into the countryside, people are very scared. We have news of fights in various places, of displaced people, “he added.
According to the UN, growing insecurity and fears of attacks have terrorized the population, with 55,000 people fleeing their homes.
Paul Melly, a member of the Africa Program at Chatham House, said it will be “very difficult” to expect the government to stop Sunday’s elections.
“The United Nations, MINUSCA and the government have made a great effort to organize to mobilize the electoral process,” he told Al Jazeera from London.
“They got everyone to register, they have been distributing or starting to distribute voter cards … a lot of people in Bangui want to go ahead and exercise their right to vote.”
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