Central African Republic eyes UN peacekeeper drawdown

The UN Security Council is due to vote on renewing the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic as the country's government and some Security Council members discuss a gradual drawdown.

The UN stabilisation mission, MINUSCA, was deployed in 2014 during the country's civil war. Its current mandate is set to expire at the weekend.

MINUSCA currently has nearly 10,000 military personnel and 2,000 police, according to a UN report published last month. The mission has been reconfiguring its presence and sending resources to remaining security hotspots. Between January and June, it closed and handed over 21 operational bases.

Security has improved since 2013 and 2014, but armed groups remain active, especially near the borders with Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera called for a gradual withdrawal of the mission in an interview with Russian TV last month, saying the Central African Republic should be able to take charge of its own security. Communications Minister Evariste Ngamana told AFP that Touadera did not want a sudden departure because weaknesses remained in some sectors.

French and Russian representatives backed the idea of a conditions-based gradual drawdown during a UN Security Council briefing last month.

MINUSCA spokeswoman Yaye Sene told AFP there was no talk of withdrawal yet and said the mission's role remained unchanged while it awaited the Security Council decision.

Recent violence has shown continuing risks. Attacks in the southeast blamed on remnants of the Lord's Resistance Army killed four people and around 68 civilians were abducted, including 40 children, between June and September. In June, gunmen attacked Am-Dafock on the Sudanese border, killing 29 people, including seven civilians and 22 members of the security forces. Six UN peacekeepers were wounded and around 17,500 residents were displaced.

More than 416,000 people were internally displaced by insecurity as of August 31, according to a UN report published in October.