The Central African Republic votes in the second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday under high security after a surge in rebel violence surrounding December’s polls.
Insurgents laid siege to the capital Bangui in January, strangling food supply routes, forcing more than 200,000 from their homes, and raising concerns that the country was slipping back into the kind of sectarian conflict that has killed thousands over the past decade.
President Faustin Archange Touadéra won re-election but rebels, who the United Nations say are backed by former president François Bozizé, sought to take control amid allegations of voting irregularities.
Sunday’s polls concern legislative elections, including run-off votes in 49 electoral districts and first-round voting in 69 districts where violence stopped the vote from taking place in December.
The country’s army, backed by Russian and Rwandan forces, and aided by U.N. peacekeepers, have steadily retaken a number of rebel strongholds since their initial offensive.
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