The United Nations Security Council has lifted an arms embargo on the government of the Central African Republic (CAR).

The policy required the country to get advance UN approval for arms purchases and transfers for its security forces. However, the UN kept an arms embargo on mercenaries and all other armed groups.

CAR opposed the arms embargo on mercenaries as fighters from Russia’s Wagner Group have been working in the Central African Republic at the government’s request.

CAR’s Foreign Minister Sylvie Baïpo-Temon told the council after the vote that the arms embargo, which was imposed in 2013, should have been lifted in its entirety.

"This injustice is feeding not peace but insecurity and disorder in the Central African Republic and the world," Baïpo-Temon warned.

The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced deadly intercommunal fighting since 2013, when Seleka rebels seized power and forced President Francois Bozize from office.

Monitoring extension

Militias later fought back, also targeting civilians in the streets. Untold thousands were killed, and most residents in the capital fled in fear.

A peace deal between the government and 14 rebel groups was signed in February 2019, but violence erupted after the constitutional court rejected Bozize’s candidature to run for president in December 2020.

President Faustin Archange Touadera won a second term with 53% of the vote, but he continues to face opposition from a rebel coalition linked to Bozize. Touadera brought in Wagner mercenaries.

The resolution adopted on Thursday does not mention Wagner by name, but it condemns cross-border criminal activities, the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons that threaten peace and security in CAR.

It also condemns "the use of mercenaries and violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations'' perpetrated by armed groups

It maintains the arms embargo on mercenaries and armed groups until July 31, 2024, and extends the mandate of the panel of experts monitoring the implementation of sanctions in CAR until August 31, 2024.