The United States announced Wednesday an additional $22 million in humanitarian aid for Central African Republic, on the eve of a key vote at the UN to authorize the deployment of peacekeepers, AFP reports.
The latest funding brings to $67 million the amount the US has released for the war-ravaged country this financial year, said the US mission to the United Nations, whose chief, Samantha Power, is visiting the country.
More than $8.8 million of the $22 million is for health, protection, economic recovery, relief commodities, water and sanitation efforts for non-governmental organizations and the World Health Organization.
An initial contingent of 55 EU troops made their first patrols in the capital Bangui Wednesday, their arrival coming a day before the Security Council is expected to give the green light to the deployment of some 12,000 peacekeepers in order to help end the violence.
A coup in March last year by the Muslim Seleka rebels plunged the country into chaos. After seizing power, some of the rebels went rogue and embarked on a campaign of killing, raping and looting.
The abuses prompted members of the Christian majority to form vigilantes called "anti-balaka," or anti-machete in the local Sango language, unleashing a wave of brutal tit-for-tat killings in the former French colon
