A statement from the UN Spokesperson’s Office on behalf of António Guterres said the peacekeeper had been killed on Friday by so-far unknown assailants when his unit was on a long-range patrol near the village of Tabane in the Haut-Mbomou prefecture, in the southeast of the country.

“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and to the Government and the people of Kenya,” the statement continued.

Possible war crime

“The Secretary-General recalls that attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. He calls on the Central African authorities to spare no effort in identifying the perpetrators of this tragedy so that they can be brought to justice swiftly.”

The Central African Republic, or CAR, has been in a state of internal conflict along sectarian lines since 2012 when predominantly Muslim militia began battling mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia, resulting in thousands of deaths and leaving many more dependent on aid.

In 2013, armed groups seized the capital forcing President François Bozizé to flee. After a brief period of reduced violence in 2015, and elections held in 2016, fighting intensified.

Peace talks got underway in early 2019 under the auspices of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR, led by the African Union (AU) with UN support. A deal was agreed in Khartoum and formally signed in CAR’s capital, Bangui.

‘Heinous attack’

The head of the MINUSCA, Valentine Rubwabiza, said in a statement she was “extremely shocked by this heinous attack on peacekeepers whose mission is to protect civilians.”

A rapid intervention team has been deployed to the site of the incident to secure the area, she added.

The MINUSCA chief – who also serves as UN Special Representative in the country – called on authorities in CAR “to spare no effort in identifying the perpetrators of this attack so that they can be brought to justice swiftly.”

She said cowardly attacks would not diminish peacekeepers’ determination to carry out their mandate “in service of peace and stability”.