UN to form new peacekeeping force in CAR

The United Nations says the world body will form a new peacekeeping force for the Central African Republic (CAR).

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous said on Wednesday that the new force, comprising of some 2,500 troops, will work to provide better security in the violence-hit country.

“I believe it will contribute in a powerful way to strengthen security,” Ladsous noted.

The force, including troops from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Morocco among other countries, will be deployed in two months.

Ladsous also expressed hope that more countries would dispatch their troops, but added this “will not happen overnight.”

The Central African Republic descended into chaos last December, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the Seleka group, which had toppled the government in March 2013.

On December 5, France invaded its former colony after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

The UN has described the displacement of the Muslims of the CAR as ethnic-religious cleansing.

In March 2014, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said almost all of more than 100,000 Muslims once residing in the capital Bangui had fled the violence perpetrated by Christian militiamen.

French and African peacekeepers are on the ground in the country, but they have been unable to stop the violence and even in some occasions have been accused of killing Muslims.