CAR To Seek Arms Embargo Removal At Upcoming UNSC Session - President

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The Central African Republic (CAR) plans to ask the United Nations Security Council to lift the arms embargo imposed on nation at the upcoming session, President Faustin Archange Touadera told Sputnik.

The UN Security Council has scheduled a meeting to discuss security challenges in the African nation on Thursday.

"And we surely are going to ask [the UN Security Council] that the embargo would be solely and simply lifted so that our forces have the means to protect the population and to fulfill their mission," Touadera said in an exclusive interview.

The UN arms embargo on the car has been in effect since 2013 when a civil war broke out between the government and various armed rebel groups.

The conflict led to hundreds of thousands of casualties before a peace deal was struck in February 2019.

However, the security situation in the country has been unstable, torn apart by pre-election violence between the opposing forces backing Touadera and his main rival Francois Bozize. Besides, UN peacekeepers in the country regularly come under attacks, which exacerbate security-related concerns.

In this regard, Touadera expressed hope that the UN Security Council "would adopt clear and firm resolutions against the authors of this destabilization."

After his victory in the presidential election on 27 December, Touadera reaffirmed his intention to actively implement numerous initiatives in the fields of peace and security.