UN: Sudan Conflict could spill into CAR
The civil war in Sudan is beginning to spill over into neighboring Central African Republic (CAR), raising fresh security concerns in a country already grappling with internal conflict, the United Nations warned on Thursday.
UN Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council that an attack which killed a UN peacekeeper near CAR's northeastern border last Friday was carried out by 'armed Sudanese elements.' It was the first official attribution of the assault to fighters linked to the ongoing Sudanese conflict.
Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal power struggle since April 2023 between the country's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The fighting has killed at least 24,000 people, displaced over 13 million, and left much of the country on the brink of famine and disease, including a growing cholera outbreak. Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes.
Lacroix noted that while there have been gains in integrating some armed factions into CAR's peace process, violence by rebel groups continues to jeopardize stability, particularly along the country's fragile borders. 'The security situation remains tenuous in border areas in the northeast,' he said. 'Instability in the region bordering Sudan is being driven by the spillover from the Sudanese conflict.'
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