UN chief condemns killing of peacekeeper in Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned an attack on a UN police checkpoint in the Central African Republic (CAR) that killed one peacekeeper and wounded three others.

In Monday's attack by anti-Balaka fighters in Bria, the capital city of Haute-Kotto prefecture, one UN peacekeeper from Mauritania was killed, three others -- two from Mauritania and one from Zambia -- were wounded, said Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Guterres condemned the attack and offered his condolences to the people and government of Mauritania as well as to colleagues from the UN peacekeeping mission. He wished swift recovery to the injured, the spokesman told a press briefing.

The special representative of the secretary-general in the CAR said the UN mission will do all it can to make sure the perpetrators are brought to justice, he said.

The attack took place two hours after peacekeepers intervened to free two displaced persons who were held hostage by the anti-Balaka in Bria.

The CAR has been in civil war since 2012, which is being fought along religious and ethnic lines, primarily between Christian anti-Balaka militia and Muslim Seleka groups.

The Mauritanian was the 14th UN peacekeeper killed in the line of duty in the CAR in 2017. Enditem