© MINUSCA – UN peacekeepers patrol Bouar, in the west of the Central African Republic.
New York, USA, January 17, 2024 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-A peacekeeper from the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) was killed and five others injured following the detonation of a explosive device Monday January 15 in the northwest of the country, the mission announced.
The peacekeeper, Emmanuel Steve Atebele, lost his life during a patrol in the village of Mbindale (between Kowone and Pougol), 45 km northwest of Paoua, in the prefecture of Lim Pendé, specified MINUSCA in a press release.
This patrol of the Cameroonian contingent provided escort for a team from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Five other peacekeepers were injured, two of them seriously, following this explosion. A medical evacuation of the injured was carried out between Pougol and Bouar.
Conviction
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, condemned the death of this peacekeeper by explosive device. His Special Representative in CAR and Head of MINUSCA, Valentine Rugwabiza, also condemned “the use of explosive devices, which constitutes one of the most fatal threats to the protection of civilians, to the delivery of aid humanitarian and the activities of the populations in the affected areas.
Mr. Guterres and Ms. Rugwabiza expressed their sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and the Cameroonian government and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
“The Secretary-General recalls that attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. He calls on the Central African authorities to spare no effort to identify the perpetrators of this attack and quickly bring them to justice,” his spokesperson said in a press statement published Monday evening.
The UN chief reaffirmed “the solidarity of the United Nations with the people and the government of the Central African Republic”.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, Security Council members also condemned in the strongest terms the attack on MINUSCA. They offered their condolences and sympathy to the family of the killed peacekeeper, as well as to Cameroon. They also expressed their condolences to the United Nations and wished a speedy and full recovery to the injured peacekeepers.
Security Council members reiterated that “attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes” and called on the government of the Central African Republic “to promptly investigate this attack.”
They expressed particular concern about illicit transnational trafficking networks that continue to finance and supply armed groups in the Central African Republic.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) for UN Info.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)