Central African Republic

An upsurge of violence in the Central African Republic has caused a 50 per cent increase in the number of internally displaced people this year to a total of nearly 600,000. Fighting has engulfed territories that had been relatively stable, including Basse-Kotto, Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou, with almost 70 per cent of the country now in the hands of armed groups.

The United Nations Human Rights Office confirmed that 33 civilians in Yemen were killed and 25 injured in the 23 August air strike by coalition forces that hit a hotel in Sana’a Governorate, one of several coalition air strikes that day, which resulted in deaths.  Witnesses said there had been no warnings of an attack.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Kenneth Gluck of the United States as his Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

The World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering emergency supplies to some 200,000 people in northwest Bangladesh after massive floods inundated more than half the country.  Many survivors have lost everything.  Nearly 7 million people have been affected by the floods; more than 580,000 hectares of crop land has been destroyed.

In Afghanistan, the United Nations Mission there has verified allegations that Taliban and local self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Daesh fighters killed at least 36 people, including civilians, during an attack on 5 August in the Mirza Olang village of Sari Pul province.  The Mission’s findings were released as part of its human rights report.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council he was aggrieved that despite his team’s best efforts over two years, the deplorable and avoidable man-made catastrophe ravaging Yemen has seen no significant improvement.  On the contrary, the suffering has intensified relentlessly.

Filippo Grandi paid his first official visit to Sudan as High Commissioner this week, with refugees continuing to flee the brutal conflict in South Sudan.  Sudan has hosted more than 416,000 South Sudanese since 2013, including some 170,000 new arrivals in 2017, as well as refugees from Eritrea, Syria, Yemen and Chad.

On 21 July 2017, during its informal consultations with the Panel of Experts, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic drew attention to the recommendation contained in paragraph 127 (d) of the midterm report of the Panel of Experts on the Central African Republic dated 26 July 2017 (document S/2017/639), which is available on the Committee’s website.

On 21 July 2017, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic held informal consultations to consider the midterm report of the Panel of Experts submitted pursuant to paragraph 28 (c) of resolution 2339 (2017).

The United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic says it started an operation this week to remove armed fighters from Bangassou, epicentre of recent interethnic violence that resulted in the displacement of more than 2,000 civilians and the killing of three peacekeepers.