UN Peacekeeper Killed, 11 Injured in Central African Republic

(Bloomberg) -- A United Nations peacekeeper in the Central African Republic was killed Tuesday and 11 others injured after their temporary base northeast of Bambari town was attacked by a local militia group.

The peacekeepers and assailants engaged in a gunfight for several hours, during which more than 22 members of the anti-Balaka militia group were killed, the peacekeeping force known by the acronym Minusca said in an emailed statement.

In what the UN ranks as the world's poorest nation, where most state institutions crumbled after a 2013 coup, the peacekeepers face a near-impossible task of shielding civilians from armed groups roaming the countryside.

Apart from that incident, Minusca discovered the bodies of 21 civilians, including four children, near a church in Tagbara later that morning, Strategic Communications and Public Information Director Herve Verhoosel said. Traditional weapons could have been used in the killings, he said.

The Central African Republic has been riven by violence since a coalition of mainly Muslim rebels overthrew President Francois Bozize in 2013. The nation was the world's 10th-biggest diamond producer by value in 2012, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“Minusca strongly condemns these violent events and the loss of lives of civilians and peacekeepers,” Verhoosel said. “Nothing could justify such acts, which may constitute war crimes.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Kingdon at ckingdon@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Eric Ombok

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