Central Africa Republic election ransacked by armed groups

Voters in Central Africa Republic (CAR) went to the polls on Sunday only to get shot at and flee thanks to rebel groups determined to sow seeds of destruction and prevent the presidential and legislative elections from taking place.

The election campaign was marred by threats from armed rebel groups [Alexis Huguet/AFP]

According to the country's election commission, 800 of the 5,408 designated polling stations were attacked, forcing them to remain shut.

Local authorities say the armed rebels, joined by former CAR President Francois Bozize who was ousted in a coup, even tried attacking polling stations in the country's capital, only to get pushed back by 12,000 U.N peacekeepers and Russian forces.

The Militants however were successful in attacking voting stations in the country's sparsely populated areas. It's not clear if any civilians were killed in the violence, but three UN peacekeepers were killed, on Friday, two days prior to the election.

"We couldn’t vote. They ransacked polling stations. For now, the city is almost empty,” a resident said by phone, according to Al Jazeera.

As of today, we do not know the proportion of Central Africans who were able to vote,” Theophile Momokouama, an executive of the electoral authority, told a news conference in Bangui on Monday.

By: Niza Nondo