A Pakistani UN peacekeeper in the Central African Republic was killed on Thursday after a convoy was ambushed in the capital, Bangui. The death is the first since the UN took over peacekeeping duties on September 15.

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At least seven peacekeepers were severely injured in the attack, said Vannina Maestracci, associate spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

A source close to the peacekeeping mission told FRANCE 24 that the attackers targeted a Pakistani-Bangladeshi convoy in the PK11 district of the capital. “The perpetrators are unknown at this stage,” the source said.

The Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of Mission, Lieutenant-General Babacar Gaye, condemned the attack.

"This crime against the UN peacekeepers, who are here to help the people of the Central African Republic, is unacceptable and the perpetrators will be held accountable and brought to justice" Gaye said in a statement.

Bangui has been rocked by two days of violence pitting the city’s Muslim and Christian populations, leaving at least seven people dead and many dozens wounded, according to UN sources in Bangui.

The fresh violence was apparently ignited by a grenade attack in a Bangui street blamed on a Muslim assailant on a motorbike, followed by the murder of a taxi driver allegedly by Muslim gunmen who set fire to several houses.

'Terrorist-fighting situation'

The death of the UN peacekeeper comes amid heightened concern over the UN mission in northern Mali where a wave of attacks have killed 31 peacekeepers since July last year.

News of the attack in the Central African Republic came after commanders briefed the UN Security Council on the growing security threats they face on the ground.

US Ambassador Samantha Power described the UN mission in Mali, which has lost 10 peacekeepers in the past week alone, as “the most dangerous mission in the world for UN peacekeepers”.

The UN’s 130,000 troops, police and civilian staff serving in missions worldwide are being drawn into more complex conflicts while being tasked with enforcing fragile peace deals.

“You are in a terrorist-fighting situation without an anti-terror mandate,” Power told Mali mission commander General Jean Bosco Kazura.

“As we are meeting here now, we may listen to bad news again, god forbid,” said Kazura.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)

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