As Sudan war spills into Central African Republic, UN warns against early peacekeeper exit

The UN warned on Tuesday against a premature withdrawal of its peacekeepers as the war in Sudan spills over into the Central African Republic (CAR).CAR continues to face a resurgence of deadly violence in the east despite the disarmament of nearly 2,000 fighters and the gradual completion of the latest electoral cycle, the Security Council heard.Illustrating the current fragility, the top UN official in the country, Valentine Rugwabiza, highlighted an attack on 30 June by different armed groups on Am-Dafock, bordering Sudan, which killed civilians, members of national security forces, displaced 17,000 civilians and injured six UN peacekeepers.However, without peacekeeping mission MINUSCA’s rapid response, she said, attacks in the border area with Chad and Sudan would have resulted in significantly more fatalities and State authority could not have been restored after only five days of control by the armed group, whose fighters retreated across the border into Sudan. “In this regard, I plead with the council, as it prepares to renew MINUSCA’s mandate, to maintain MINUSCA with adequate force levels and capabilities during the critical consolidation phase,” she stressed.UN Photo/Eskin...