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Protesters attack UN base in CAR

April 10, 2015

Several soldiers have been injured after hundreds of protesters attacked a United Nation's peacekeeping camp, the UN said. UN forces fired warning shots at the crowd, which tried to set the camp's entrance on fire.

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Symbolbild UN Truppen in der Zentralafrikanischen Republik
Image: picture alliance/AA/Str

On Friday, one protester was killed and several other injured when a rally outside a UN base in Central African Republic turned violent, a UN spokesman said.

The peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSCA, said a mob of 300 to 400 people attempted to break into the camp by setting the barrier at the entrance on fire. Protesters carrying knives and stones critically injured several UN soldiers by throwing projectiles at the troops, MINUSCA said.

"Faced with the magnitude of the attack, the UN peacekeepers reacted with warning shots," the mission said in a statement.

Thousands dead in sectarian violence

This was the second attack this week against the UN base Kaga-Bandoro, some 385 kilometers (240 miles) from the capital Bangui. The UN said that "relations with the population have always been positive," but did not specify what sparked the protests.

The mission "deeply regrets" the death of one assailant and injuries to several others, and it said it was immediately launching an investigation into exact circumstances that led to these casualties.

All injured persons received treatment at the camp's hospital, the UN said.

The 9,000-strong peacekeeping force was deployed in September, replacing an African Union mission in the country torn apart by bloody sectarian violence following a 2013 coup. At least 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

dj/kms (AFP, AP)