African Union calls for more troops sent to CAR
Iran Press TV
Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:30PM GMT
The African Union (AU) has called on the countries in the Great Lakes region to strengthen a peacekeeping mission in the violence-plagued Central African Republic (CAR) to stabilize the situation in the country.
AU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Boubacar Diarra said during a regional leaders meeting in Angola on Wednesday that the African-led International Support Mission to the CAR (MISCA) is in need of more troops.
"The commission of the AU...would like to call on your conference to allow MISCA to deploy to its fullest capacity and contribute together with Sangaris...to definitively stabilize the situation,' said Diarra.
The African country has been marred by sectarian fighting for months. MISCA forces, which at present consist of 4,500 soldiers, and a separate mission of 1,600 French soldiers have been authorized to contain the violence in the former French colony.
Despite the troops, the sectarian violence claimed 1,000 lives last month alone. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says nearly one million people have been displaced due to the violence.
Last week, European Union's 28 member states agreed to begin a joint military operation with the existing troops deployed in the country.
The Central African Republic spiraled into chaos in March 2013 when Seleka fighters overthrew President Francois Bozizé and brought Michel Djotodia to power. Bozizé fled the country after his ouster.
On January 10, both Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiengaye resigned after intense pressure over the government's failure to stem the deadly violence.
France invaded its former colony on December 5, 2013, claiming that the aim of the mission is to create stability in the country in order to allow humanitarian aid to reach violence-hit areas.
CAH/SS/SL
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