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Central African Republic: UN urges Security Council not to cut peacekeepers as Sudan war spills over

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The Central African Republic faces a resurgence of deadly violence in its east as the war in Sudan spills across the border, and the UN warned the Security Council on 20 October 2026 against a premature withdrawal of its peacekeepers. Valentine Rugwabiza, head of the UN mission MINUSCA, asked the Council to keep adequate force levels as it prepares to renew the mission’s mandate.

Central African Republic: A soldier and a local resident during a joint patrol with Zambian peacekeepers at the Birao market
A soldier and a local resident during a joint patrol with Zambian peacekeepers at the Birao market Photo: MINUSCA/Mamouda Tankoano via UN News (editorial use with credit).

Central African Republic mission: mandate decision due by mid-November

The Council must decide before mid-November whether to renew MINUSCA’s mandate, UN News said. The Secretary-General has recommended a one-year extension while keeping the military capabilities needed for rapid intervention. The issue has divided Council members: the United States has argued for larger troop reductions, while other countries warn against a hasty withdrawal. The mission currently has more than 12,000 peacekeepers and has already closed several bases in areas judged stable, handing some responsibilities to national authorities. Rugwabiza said early assessments show no major deterioration in security where bases closed, but that the reorganisation relies on long-range patrols and on stronger Central African forces.

Key Facts

  • Peacekeepers in MINUSCA: more than 12,000
  • Mandate decision: before mid-November 2026
  • Fighters disarmed since July 2025: 1,907
  • Acutely food insecure (Apr-Aug): nearly 2 million, 31% of population
  • Humanitarian plan funded: 46.6% (early October)

“I plead with the council, as it prepares to renew MINUSCA's mandate, to maintain MINUSCA with adequate force levels and capabilities during the critical consolidation phase.”

— Valentine Rugwabiza, head of MINUSCA

Sudan war and armed groups drive the violence

Rugwabiza pointed to an attack on 30 June by several armed groups on Am-Dafock, on the border with Sudan, which killed civilians and members of the national security forces, displaced 17,000 people and injured six UN peacekeepers. Without MINUSCA’s rapid response, attacks in the border area with Chad and Sudan would have caused far more deaths, and state authority could not have been restored after only five days of armed-group control, she said; the fighters retreated into Sudan. In the southeast, 26 serious incidents attributed to suspected members of the Lord’s Resistance Army were recorded between June and September, including rapes, sexual slavery and the abduction of 68 civilians, about 40 of them children. The Azandé Ani Kpi Gbé militia also continues to threaten local people.

Peace gains, local elections and hunger

The violence contrasts with progress in the peace process. Since July 2025, 1,907 fighters have been disarmed and demobilised, although their economic reintegration remains difficult. As of 1 October, 127 of the 177 municipalities had installed their councils, and the remaining polls, delayed by a lack of money and logistics, are due on 25 October. Rugwabiza also announced the release on Monday of three hostages held since December 2025, including the sub-prefect of Bambouti, after months of mediation. Yet nearly two million people, or 31 per cent of the population, faced acute food insecurity between April and August, and the UN humanitarian plan was only 46.6 per cent funded at the start of October. MINUSCA was deployed in 2014, a year after the Séléka coalition seized power and overthrew then-President François Bozizé.

Why It Matters: Sudan's war is now feeding armed violence in neighbouring countries. How the Council handles MINUSCA will show whether UN missions can be scaled down without losing hard-won gains.

Also on TrendDesh: Sudan drone strikes hit Abyei market and Khartoum as UN condemns attacks killing children · Indonesian peacekeepers honoured by Guterres, who lays wreath for four killed in Lebanon

Source: UN News, 20 Oct 2026 · MINUSCA · UN Security Council

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