Qualla: The War That Partitioned a Nation

The War That Partitioned a Nation: Introduction

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Adolfikk, CC0. The Central African Republic is roughly the size of Texas, with a population of about five million. More than one million of those people have been driven from their homes. Since 2012, a civil war rooted in ethnic, religious, and economic divisions has torn through the country, cycling through coups, ceasefires, peace agreements, and renewed violence with a regularity that defies resolution. Eight peace deals have been signed and broken. Peacekeeping forces have transitioned from regional to continental to international command. The fighting continues.

Image: Adolfikk | CC0

The War That Partitioned a Nation: Seleka's March on Bangui

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C., Public domain. The war's opening act was swift. In late 2012, a coalition of rebel groups calling itself Seleka - meaning "union" in the Sango language - accused President Francois Bozize's government of failing to honor earlier peace agreements. By December, Seleka fighters had seized N'Dele, ...

Image: Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C. | Public domain

The War That Partitioned a Nation: The Violence That Followed

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit BlankMap-Africa2.svg: NuclearVacuum derivative work: Makakaaaa, Public domain. Seleka's seizure of power did not bring control. The coalition fractured almost immediately, its fighters - many of them foreign-born, from Chad and Sudan - engaging in looting, killings, and abuses against civilian populations. In response, self-defense groups that had previousl...

Image: BlankMap-Africa2.svg: NuclearVacuum derivative work: Makakaaaa | Public domain

The War That Partitioned a Nation: A Carousel of Peacekeepers

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C., Public domain. The international response grew in stages, always a step behind the violence. The regional Economic Community of Central African States had maintained a peacekeeping force called MICOPAX since 2008. In December 2013, the UN Security Council authorized a transition to the African ...

Image: Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C. | Public domain

The War That Partitioned a Nation: The Human Cost

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C., Public domain. The statistics are staggering. The Muslim population of Bangui dropped 99 percent, from 138,000 to 900. Amnesty International documented a "Muslim exodus of historic proportions" driven by Anti-balaka attacks. The Seleka factions committed their own atrocities - massacres at chur...

Image: Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C. | Public domain

The War That Partitioned a Nation: Ceasefire After Ceasefire

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C., Public domain. Peace has been declared many times. A ceasefire was signed in Brazzaville in July 2014. The Bangui National Forum produced a Republican Pact in May 2015. An African Union-led accord in February 2019, brokered with Russian and Sudanese involvement, was the eighth such agreement si...

Image: Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C. | Public domain