DAKAR, Senegal - Two more African Union peacekeepers were killed Thursday night in the Central African Republic, officials said Friday, bringing to 11 the number of international peacekeepers who have died in less than a month and underscoring the dangerous nature of the unfolding conflict in the nation.
The two officers from the Republic of Congo were killed by unidentified assailants, said African Union mission spokesman Eloi Yao. Their deaths came a day after a pickup carrying Chadian peacekeepers was attacked with heavy arms fire, incinerating the vehicle and killing six of the soldiers inside. Fifteen others were wounded in that attack.
Another African Union peacekeeper was killed last weekend in the town of Bossangoa. Earlier this month, two French soldiers were killed in Bangui, the country’s troubled capital.
“Last night, two police officers with the MISCA [the African Union peacekeeping force] from the Republic of Congo were killed by unidentified gunmen after they ambushed them during a patrol in the town of Bangui,” Yao said Friday.
Calm appeared to have returned to Bangui on Friday after heavy fighting that came close to the presidential palace, said presidential spokesman Guy Simplice.
“Fierce fighting took place around the palace, but the attackers were repelled by the presidential guard,” Simplice said. “All is quiet at the moment.”
Also on Friday, the country’s attorney general, Ghislain Gresenguet, announced that he had opened an investigation into a mass grave discovered not far from the palace. At least 20 decomposing bodies were found, he said. The remains were several days old, and Gresenguet said the wounds they bore indicated the victims likely had been tortured.
“Some of the bodies were bound, their hands tied together with rope. Other bodies were mutilated, with large wounds. Though we don’t know if they were caused by firearms or by machetes,” Gresenguet said.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council authorized a French and African Union intervention mission. A total of 1,600 French troops and about 3,000 African troops have been deployed since Dec. 5 to the country that some officials have described as on the verge of genocide.
The Central African Republic’s troubles started nine months ago after a coup by a Muslim rebel group. They stormed the capital and forced out the nation’s Christian president, as well as the mostly Christian elite presidential guard. The soldiers loyal to the former regime are believed to be backing a Christian militia, which has led repeated attacks on the capital, as well as targeted killings of Muslims and assaults on mosques.
The level of violence has shocked even hardened Africa watchers, with Christian youth in the capital openly lynching Muslims, who are accused of complicity with the rebels who seized power.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for an immediate end to the attacks.
“The U.S. calls on the CAR transitional authorities to immediately end the violence, end the use of torture, and investigate and prosecute all those implicated in grave human-rights abuses,” Kerry saidin a statement.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is “appalled” by the continuing violence, according to a statement emailed by his spokesman Friday. A U.N. national staff member was killed in the country Tuesday, he said, without providing further details.
Information for this article was contributed by Baba Ahmed, Rukmini Callimachi and Rebecca Blackwell of The Associated Press and Crispin Dembassa Kette of Bloomberg News.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/28/2013