European Union CAR peacekeeping mission operational

Eufor-RCA has already replaced French troops at the Bangui M’Poko International Airport.

The long-delayed European Union peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, CAR, Eufor-RCA, went operational on Wednesday, April 30, 2014, Radio France International, RFI reported. It has joined the African Union-led MISCA troops in maintaining peace in the war-torn country while a UN mission is expected to take over later in the year.

The EU troops have already replaced French ‘Operation Sangaris’ soldiers guarding the Bangui M’Poko International Airport in the capital that has since become a safe haven for thousands of the city’s displaced. For now, the force comprises 150 men, most of them from France and Estonia, but the number is expected to gradually reach 800 by next June when contingents from Georgia, Spain, Italy, Finland, etc arrive. France is providing most of the troops and the commander, General Philippe Pontiès.

With a six-month mandate, the EU force is to help stem deadly sectarian violence in the Central African Republic by also securing two neighbourhoods in Bangui.

The idea of the mission was first mooted in December 2013, but its deployment was delayed because of the reticence of several European Union members whose attention was distracted by the conflict in Ukraine. Gen. Pontiès last month called on 28 EU member States to make additional efforts to raise the number of troops to 1,000, explaining that the mission would face challenges because of CAR’s landlocked nature and the lack of lodging facilities for soldiers.

Meanwhile, an attack on April 28, 2014 on a humanitarian convoy transporting to safety members of the Moslem community left two people dead and six injured.

The convoy, heading for Kabo and Moyen Sido in the north, was hit by a grenade believed to have been thrown by anti-Balaka militiamen, the UNHCR Spokesperson in CAR, Fatoumata Lejeune, said. She said that the attack occurred at about noon at Dissikou, 50 km from Kaga Bandoro, where the displaced were due to rest for a night before proceeding.

According to the UNHCR, there were 602,891 internally displaced people in the country as at April 22, 2014, with 348,000 refugees having fled to neighbouring countries. Over 15,000 Moslems remain at risk, surrounded and threatened by anti-Balaka groups in 15 locations across the western part of the country, the UN said.

By Kimeng Hilton Ndukong