Egypt on Wednesday offered its condolences to Mauritania over the death of one of its peacekeepers following an attack by militias that targeted a UN base in the Central African Republic early on Monday. In an official statement, Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid accentuated “Egypt's supportive stance with the government and people of Mauritania in this ordeal." “Egypt appreciates all sacrifices made by the UN's peacekeeping forces in central Africa to combat terrorism in the Sahel region,” the statement concluded. The Egyptian statement comes two days after the UN said that Christian anti-balaka militias assaulted UN peacekeeping forces base in Tagbara, about 300 km (190 miles) northeast of the Central African Republic's capital Bangui. The attack left one peacekeeper dead and eleven others wounded. The hours-long firefight left 22 militia members dead. Central African Republic was torn apart after mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted president Francois Bozize in 2013, provoking retaliation killings by the anti-balaka militias. A 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission has struggled to restore order to the countryside where attacks on civilians are frequent.
