A 15-day nationwide state of emergency began in the Central African Republic at midnight Thursday in response to rebel-inspired violence over last month’s disputed reelection of President Faustin-Archange Touadera.
The head of the United Nations mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, Mankeur Ndiaye, appealed to the U.N. Security Council to add more peacekeepers, warning the country was “at grave risk of a setback in terms of security and peacebuilding.”
Ndiaye also suggested that regional and international support should be sought to support the Central African Republic.
Francois Bozize, the former President of the country, has been blamed for the inflaming violence after the Constitutional Court rejected his candidacy in the Dec. 27 presidential election, which the court declared this week was won by Touadera.
Former President Francois Bozize
Sporadic violence continues to plague the country despite the government and rebel groups entering into an agreement in 2019 in an attempt to suppress the unrest.
The violence has led to tens of thousands of people in the country seeking refuge in neighboring countries
