1 peacekeeper killed, 3 wounded in Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. says one peacekeeper has been killed and three wounded in Central African Republic in an attack carried out by mostly Christian anti-Balaka forces at a U.N. police checkpoint.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the attack took place at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in the southeast town of Bria after peacekeepers intervened to free two displaced people being held hostage by anti-Balaka forces.

He said the peacekeeper who died and two of the wounded were from Mauritania. The third injured peacekeeper was from Zambia.

Dujarric said the Mauritanian was the 14th peacekeeper killed in Central African Republic this year.

The country has been wracked by violence between Muslims and Christians since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the Christian president and seized power.