UNITED NATIONS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Tuesday they are mobilizing relief with their partners following fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) town of Am-Dafock, near the border with embattled Sudan.
"People displaced by the fighting there urgently need protection support, healthcare and access to safe drinking water," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "The security situation remains volatile, with the town's sole health facility reportedly looted."
An estimated 1,000 people displaced from villages around Am-Dafock have sought safety in Birao, putting pressure on its already stretched resources, since the town is hosting about 25,000 refugees from Sudan.
Humanitarians delivered 400 tarpaulins and other shelter assistance to Am-Dafock over the weekend. The rainy season has rendered the main road into the town impassable, hampering efforts to scale up the response. Some two dozen tonnes of humanitarian cargo awaited transport, said OCHA.
Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Monday that there were clashes in the area of Am-Dafock a week earlier between CAR armed forces and armed groups.
He said UN peacekeepers lost an armored personnel carrier to hostile fire in relation to the fighting on June 30, but denied social media rumors that the carrier was being misused by armed groups.
The vehicle subsequently remained immobilized in the vicinity of the incident. UN peacekeepers who were aboard the carrier were safely evacuated and repositioned. It was not seized or appropriated by any armed group, Dujarric told a regular briefing.
However, recovery efforts could not be undertaken immediately due to the prevailing security situation, with armed groups maintaining control of a number of strategic areas in that place.
Dujarric said state authority was re-established in Am-Dafock following the withdrawal of armed elements, and the Zambian contingent of peacekeepers planned to retrieve the non-operational armored personnel carrier. ■
