Two UN peacekeepers killed in ambush in Central African Republic

Moscow [Russia], January 19 (ANI/Sputnik): Two peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) were killed in an ambush in the southeast of the country, MINUSCA said.
"Two MINUSCA peacekeepers - a Gabonese and a Moroccan - were killed on Monday, 17 km [10.5 miles] from Bangassou (Mbomou prefecture), in the south of the CAR, following the ambush of their convoy by elements of the coalition armed groups," MINUSCA said in a statement on Twitter.
Earlier this month, two UN peacekeepers were killed in separate targeted attacks in the CAR (Central African Republic).
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed last week that attacks against UN peacekeepers "may constitute a war crime."
The situation in CAR, one of the poorest countries in the world, has deteriorated in the run-up to the December 27 election. Back then, incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera accused his main rival and predecessor, Francois Bozize, of plotting a coup and a militias march on the capital Bangui.
The top CAR court barred Bozize, backed by the Coalition of Patriots for Change, from running on "morality grounds." Touadera won a second term, but the outcome still needs to be certified by the constitutional court. (ANI/Sputnik)