Bangui: The United Nations (UN) is planning to send more peacekeeping forces in the diamond-mining town of Bangassou in Central African Republic (CAR) to stop a recent wave of violence.
Bloomberg quoted Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying that new clashes erupted in the southern prefectures of Bria and Alindao.
“Unverified figures indicate that up to 100 people may have been killed,” he said.
He said the troops would help “neutralize attackers, protect civilians and facilitate critical humanitarian support to the population”.
CAR was the world’s tenth-biggest diamond producer by value in 2012, according to Bloomberg citing the US Geological Survey.
An internecine conflict broke out in CAR in 2013 when Muslim Seleka rebels seized power from President Francois Bozize, causing retaliations by "anti-balaka" Christian militias.
Diamonds were used to fund operations of the warring groups, a move that forced the Kimberley Process to ban the export of diamonds from the landlocked country. However, the diamond watchdog partially lifted the ban last year.
