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Protester killed in clashes at UN base in Central African Republic

Friday, 10 April 2015 10:52 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 April 2015 11:35 PM ]

An armored personnel carrier belonging to UN peacekeepers is stationed outside the presidential palace in the Central African Republic's capital, Bangui, on October 8, 2014.

One person has been killed and several others wounded when hundreds of protesters stormed a UN base in the Central African Republic (CAR), a UN spokesman says.

The incident happened on Friday, when some 400 people staged a protest rally outside the UN peacekeeping camp in the northern town of Kaga-Bandoro, nearly 385 kilometers (240 miles) from the CAR capital Bangui, spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated.

A number of the protesters, armed with knives and stones, tried to break through the camp's entrance by setting it on fire, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) said in a statement.

"Faced with the magnitude of the attack, the UN peacekeepers reacted with warning shots," the statement added, noting, "MINUSCA deeply regrets this incident and has decided to immediately open an investigation” into exact circumstances that led to the casualties.

The attack on the UN camp was the second one in a week, Dujarric said, without giving any details about the reasons behind the protest.

The CAR descended into chaos in December 2013, when Christian anti-Balaka militias launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which had toppled the government in March 2013.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and over one million displaced by the conflict so far.

On Wednesday, anti-Balaka militias signed a ceasefire deal with the Seleka group after months of negotiations mediated by Kenya. The agreement was signed by Joachim Kokate, the representative of anti-Balakas, and Michel Djotodia from the Seleka group.

The 9,000-strong MINUSCA force was stationed in the Central African Republic in September last year in a bid to prevent more bloodshed in the violence-hit country.

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