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Attacks by armed rebels closed more than 14% of polling stations in Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections.
More than 14% of polling stations in the Central African Republic (CAR) did not function during Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections due to armed rebels who attacked voters and banned poll workers, the electoral commission said.
About 800 polling stations out of a total of 5,408 across the country did not open their doors, Théophile Momokouama, an electoral authority official, said at a press conference in Bangui on Monday.
“There were places where voters were brutalized, threatened with death. Election staff were prohibited from deploying in the field, ”Momokouama said.
Evariste Mongo, a member of the local administration, said on Monday that the attacks took place in the western towns of Carnot, Nola and Bambari. No injuries were reported.
Waves of violence
The diamond and gold-rich nation of 4.7 million people have struggled to stabilize amid successive waves of violence since 2013 that have killed thousands and forced over a million people to leave their homes.
“To date, we do not know the proportion of Central Africans who were able to vote,” Momokouama said.
He said the commission was awaiting the results from the regions for collation. The commission will then transmit the provisional results to the Constitutional Court which will publish them.
The election campaign was marred by threats from armed rebel groups who vowed to march on the capital and disrupt the vote after several candidates, including former President Francois Bozize, were banned from running.
Security forces, aided by more than 12,000 United Nations peacekeepers, and strengthening partners from Russia and Rwanda, succeeded in repelling attacks in the capital and some towns, but rebels were able to stop the vote in some areas of a sparsely populated country more than France.
Three UN peacekeepers were killed on Friday after an attack on national security forces and the MINUSCA mission in Dekoa, Kemo prefecture, and Bakouma, Mbomou prefecture.
Security Minister Henri Wanzet-Linguissara told the press conference that some rebel groups were aided by foreign mercenaries, which allowed them to take control of some towns.
In Bouar, about 435 km northwest of the capital, where heavy gunfire prevented the vote, terrified residents were still hiding in their homes on Monday.
“The armed groups are always near the city. Yesterday was very difficult for us. We couldn’t vote. They ransacked the polling stations. For now, the city is almost empty, ”said a resident by phone.
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