The UN Security Council on Friday approved a resolution to gradually increase the strength of its peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic by nearly 3,000 peacekeepers, still under threat from armed groups seeking to overthrow power, according to diplomats .
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Written by France, the text was adopted by 14 members out of the 15 of the Council, only Russia, active in the Central African Republic, abstaining, according to the same sources.
No explanation could be obtained from the Russian diplomatic mission to the UN.
The resolution provides for an increase of 2,750 men in the authorized ceiling for the deployment of military personnel, and of 940 for that for police officers.
This rare increase in the size of a peace mission brings the authorized strength to 14,400 militiamen and 3,020 police officers.
The Minusca mission was already one of the largest UN operations in the world, with an annual budget of around $ 1 billion.
These reinforcements had been requested by the Central African Republic, Minusca, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
At the end of 2020, beginning of 2021, the peacekeepers had to face an offensive by armed groups wanting to overthrow the authorities established in Bangui.
Rwandan and Russian soldiers, sent to the Central African Republic at the end of 2020 in a bilateral framework, had lent them a hand.
The resolution underlines that the reinforcements of peacekeepers granted "
aim to strengthen the capacity of Minusca to accomplish its priorities
”, namely the protection of civilians, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
They also aim to help the Mission "
to avoid (and oppose if necessary) a future deterioration of the security situation, while creating a space to advance the political process
", specifies the text.
The UN decision comes two days before the holding of a second round of legislative elections in the Central African Republic on Sunday.
In mid-December, 6 of the 14 armed groups which had occupied two-thirds of the country since the start of the civil war in 2013, launched an offensive against the regime of President Faustin Archange Touadéra, re-elected at the end of December.
During the first round of legislative and presidential elections at the end of December, only one in three voters had been able to vote in this country in civil war for eight years.
While pressure is mounting in the Central African Republic to end the arms embargo expiring this summer, the resolution is limited to "
noting the request of the Central African authorities for (its) lifting
".
In its resolution, the Security Council reminds them "of
the need to ensure protection, control, management, traceability and responsibility for the arms, munitions and military equipment
" which are transferred to them.