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Rwandan peacekeeper guns down colleagues

August 8, 2015

A UN peacekeeper from Rwanda has shot dead four of his colleagues in the Central African Republic, before being killed himself. The man's exact motives remain unknown, although terrorism has been suspected.

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Zentralafrikanische Republik UN-Sicherheitstruppen in Bangui
Image: picture-alliance/AA/Stringer

The soldier turned on his fellow UN peacekeepers and compatriots early on Saturday, at the Rwanda batallion's headquarters in the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui.

"A Rwandan soldier picked up his gun and killed his colleagues before being felled," said a source close to the UN mission in Central Africa, known by its French acronym of MINUSCA.

The Reuters news agency reported that the possibility of terrorism had not been ruled out, quoting Rwandan Brigadier General Joseph Nzabamwita.

"Investigations have immediately commenced to establish the motive behind this deplorable shooting," Nzabamwita said. "We suspect terrorism, without ruling out mental illness as the cause."

The UN mission in CAR, known as MINUSCA, was deployed to help provide stability under a transitional government. A delicate peace was established after Muslim Seleka rebels seized power, triggering revenge attacks by "anti-balaka" Christian militias. The Christians drove thousands of Muslims from the south, creating a de facto partition.

Some 850 Rwandan peacekeepers are deployed in the CAR. MINUSCA comprises some 10,800 troops from Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Morocco, Senegal, Pakistan and Indonesia.

rc/gsw (AFP, Reuters)