A contingent of Rwandan peacekeepers will be deployed to the Central African Republic 3012132

After touring the country's troubled capital on Saturday, Smail Chergui said that the Rwandan troops will join the 3,800 African Union peacekeepers already stationed there as early as January 2014.

The African Union force in the Central African Republic has been dogged by accusations that its contingent from Chad — made up of Muslim soldiers — has sided with the Muslim rebels who overran Bangui nine months ago, seizing power in a coup which ousted the nation's Christian president. In the past week, reporters saw the Chadian troops open fire on a crowd of Christian demonstrators.

France has so far deployed a 1,600 peacekeeping mission to the CAR aimed at stopping massacres between Muslim and Christian militias.

The United States is alarmed by the December 24 and 25 attacks in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) by both Seleka and Anti-Balaka fighters against civilian populations in the capital Bangui. These attacks resulted in dozens of deaths, including several MISCA troops, and the large-scale displacement of those living in the northern part of the city.

The United States commends the African Union-led stabilization mission in the C.A.R., MISCA, and the French forces operating as part of Operation Sangaris, for their commitment to ending the violence and establishing an environment in which a political transition to a democratically elected government can take place. We are confident the French and MISCA forces will act robustly to protect equally all civilian populations, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation.