The United Nations said it plans to send additional peacekeeping forces to the diamond-mining town of Bangassou in the Central African Republic (CAR), to quell a recent wave of violence.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, was quoted as saying that over 25,000 people in the area are in need of humanitarian assistance in the wake of the violence, with a reported 8,500 displaced.

Dujarric said the additional forces would be deployed to “neutralise attackers, protect civilians and facilitate critical humanitarian support for the population”.

There has been violence in the CAR ever since President Francis Bozize was overthrown by a coalition of mainly Muslim rebels in 2013. That year, the country was said to be the world’s 10th-largest diamond producer in value terms.

https://www.gemkonnect.com/news/un-sending-additional-peacekeeping-forces-car-diamond-mining-town