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Is Hell a Place Called the Central African Republic?

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Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security

There is a potential cultural/territorial/religious genocide taking place in the Central African Republic (CAR). The situation is predominantly one of Muslim nomadic cattle herders versus the 80 percent Christian and Animist farmers.

The state has lost all central power with the disintegration of the Michel Djotodia’s Seleka Alliance and the fragmentation into militias and warlords.

About 400,000 people have fled their homes and villages amidst raids, murder, torture, rape, disease and starvation.

A UN Security Council draft resolution is underway with France taking a lead role. Last Tuesday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that they are raising their troop presence there from 400 to 1,400. The six month mission would be coordinated with the African Union troops. There are 2,500 regional African troops within the CAR.

To secure a population of 4.6 million Central African Republicans, going by a formula of strict minimal force requirements ratio of 3 to 1000 troops to civilian population would require the commitment of around 14,000 soldiers. Even if a peacekeeping force of 10,000 troops eventually got involved, it is hardly a realistic number. Additionally, apart from the violence, a humanitarian mission to protect over 400,000 internally displaced or refugee civilians emigrating from CAR is critical within the crisis of rising political instability.

Located in a highly unstable region of Africa, CAR is surrounded by Chad, South Sudan, the Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Aside from France, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recognized the perils of CAR and this month backed the idea of a UN peacekeeping force to prevent the instability from spreading to surrounding states and attempt to quell it within CAR. Ban backed a force of 6,000 troops and 1,700 police officers and potentially another 3,000 UN troops.

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Disarming Libya’s Militias

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By William Tucker

In the wake of the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi security in Libya has been tenuous at best. The new government has struggled to simultaneously improve security, provide basic services, and stabilize crude oil production. The struggle, however, does not indicate the government has completely failed in this regard, instead it simply recognizes the challenges of reestablishing governance and security in a large nation with a small, widespread population.

Clashes Between Libyan Militias

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By William Tucker

Two Libyan militia groups exchanged gunfire in Tripoli yesterday killing four and wounding five. The firefight began when a militia from Misrata tried to free several prisoners held in the former intelligence headquarters building of the Gaddafi regime. In response, the military council of Zawiya street returned fire disrupting the Misratan operation. Fighting between armed rebel groups in Tripoli has been a profound fear of the interim government.