Three Zambian peacekeepers were injured, one of them seriously, when armed elements attacked the town of Am Dafock in the Central African Republic on June 30, opening fire on a temporary base operated by the UN’s MINUSCA stabilisation mission.
The attack took place in Vakaga Prefecture, close to the country’s border with Sudan, and was carried out by fighters affiliated with the Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), the Mouvement Démocratique pour le Rassemblement du Peuple Centrafricain (MDRPC), and other unidentified armed groups. Local authorities said the broader violence in the area left 22 people dead. The injured Zambian soldiers were part of a patrol conducting civilian protection duties when the attack occurred; all three received emergency medical care on site and were airlifted out with support from MINUSCA’s air assets, including a Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter crew that stepped in after weather grounded another aircraft assigned to the evacuation.
MINUSCA head Valentine Rugwabiza condemned the attack, stating that assaults on UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law, and called on those responsible to be identified and held accountable. The mission said it remains committed to its civilian protection mandate despite the escalating risk to its personnel.
Zambia has maintained a battalion under MINUSCA as part of its ongoing contribution to UN peacekeeping efforts in the Central African Republic, a country that has faced sustained instability since 2013. The incident adds to a difficult recent stretch for the mission, which has also recorded attacks on Kenyan, Tunisian and Nepalese personnel over the past year and a half, underscoring the deteriorating security situation along CAR’s border with war-torn Sudan.
