“The Secretary-General has been following reports of increasing tensions in the Central African Republic with growing concern”, his spokesperson said in a press statement issued on Friday.
Mr. Guterres called for an urgent end to all hostile actions, and for Central Africans to work together, to ensure favourable conditions for the holding of credible, inclusive and peaceful elections on 27 December, and to “refrain from disinformation, hate speech and incitement to violence”.
In Bangui and in other regions, the peacekeepers of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) are on high alert to protect civilian populations and secure the elections.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in CAR, Mankeur Ndiaye, took to Twitter on Saturday, to reassure citizens that MINUSCA will do its utmost to ensure the security of the electoral process, and called on the Central African population not to panic, and to provide the necessary support to the national security forces and to the peacekeepers.
In view of the deteriorating security situation in the west of the country, Mr. Ndiaye decided on Friday to deploy MINUSCA forces to Bossemptélé and Bossembélé, two municipalities to the north-west of Bangui, which have been targets of attacks by armed groups.
