The current conflict arose when a new coalition of varied rebel groups, known as Séléka, accused the government of failing to abide by the peace agreements,[30] captured many towns in 2012 and seized the capital in 2013.

[44][45] After François Bozizé seized power in 2003, the Central African Republic Bush War (2004–2007) began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) in northeastern CAR, led by Michel Djotodia.

[58][59] It claimed that it had killed two additional members of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) in Damara, capturing military and civilian vehicles, weapons including rockets, and communications equipment, and launched unsuccessful assault on a fourth town, Grimari, and promised more operations in the future.

[75] Josué Binoua, the CAR's minister for territorial administration, requested that France intervenes in case the rebels, now only 75 km (47 mi) away, manage to reach the capital Bangui.

At the same time, ECCAS Deputy Secretary-General Guy-Pierre Garcia confirmed that the rebels and the CAR government had agreed to unconditional talks, with the goal to get to negotiations by 10 January at the latest.

[81] Rebel forces took over the town of Sibut without firing a shot on 29 December, as at least 60 vehicles with CAR and Chadian troops retreated to Damara, the last city standing between Séléka and the capital.

Residents reported many shop-owners had hired groups of armed men to guard their property in anticipation of possible looting, as thousands were leaving the city in overloaded cars and boats.

[88] The terms of the agreement also included that National Assembly of the Central African Republic be dissolved within a week with a year-long coalition government formed in its place and a new legislative election be held within 12 months (with the possibility of postponement).

[93][94] On 18 March 2013, the rebels, having taken over Gambo and Bangassou, threatened to take up arms again if their demands for the release of political prisoners, the integration of their forces into the national army and for South African soldiers to leave the country were not met within 72 hours.

[102][107] On 25 March 2013, Séléka leader Michel Djotodia, who served after the January agreement as First Deputy Prime Minister for National Defense, declared himself president, becoming the first Muslim to ever hold the office.

[111][112] In the following two days top military and police officers met with Djotodia and recognized him as president on 28 March 2013, in what was viewed as "a form of surrender",[113] and the overall security situation was beginning to improve.

On 5 December 2013, called "A Day That Will Define Central African Republic", the Anti-balaka militias coordinated an attack on Bangui against its Muslim population, killing more than 1,000 civilians, in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Djotodia.

The European Union decided to set up its first military operations in six years when foreign ministers approved the sending of up to 1,000 soldiers to the country by the end of February, to be based around Bangui.

[134] The first batch of 55 EUFOR troops arrived in Bangui, according to the French army, and carried out its first patrol on 9 April with the intention of "maintaining security and training local officers".

[136] Because of increasing violence, on 10 April 2014, the UN Security Council transferred MISCA to a UN peacekeeping operation called the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) with 10,000 troops, to be deployed in September that year.

[137] France called for a vote at the UNSC in April 2014 and expected a unanimous resolution authorising 10,000 troops and 1,800 police to replace the over 5,000 African Union soldiers on 15 September;[138] the motion was then approved.

[9] As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned of a de facto partition of the country into Muslim and Christian areas as a result of the sectarian fighting,[140] he also called the conflict an "urgent test" for the UN and the region's states.

The forum resulted in the adoption of a Republican Pact for Peace, National Reconciliation and Reconstruction and the signature of a Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Repatriation (DDRR) agreement among 9 of 10 armed groups.

[40] Armed entrepreneurs have carved out personal fiefdoms in which they set up checkpoints, collect illegal taxes, and take in millions of dollars from the illicit coffee, mineral, and timber trades.

[156] In January 2015, talks in Nairobi between Joachim Kokate representing the Anti-balaka and Djotodia and Adam of FPRC led to another ceasefire agreement where they called for amnesty for all perpetrators of abuses and the removal of the current transitional authorities.

[123][157] By October 2015, Samba-Panza accused the Nairobists of plotting a coup and dozens of FPRC combatants even walked from the north-east of the country to Sibut, a few kilometres from the capital, threatening the transitional authorities, but were stopped by international forces.

[162] In eastern CAR, tensions erupted in competition between Ex-Séléka militias arising over control of a goldmine in November 2016, where MPC[155] and the FPRC coalition, which incorporated elements of their former enemy, the Anti-balaka,[153] attacked UPC.

Additionally, the thinly spread MINUSCA relied on Ugandan as well as American special forces to keep the peace in the southeast, as they were part of a campaign to eliminate the Lord's Resistance Army, but the mission ended in April 2017.

[185] In September 2019, fighting between two rebel groups that signed the February 2019 deal, FPRC and the mostly Kara "Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice" (MLCJ), which was founded by Abakar Sabon and was not part of the Séléka alliance that overthrew Bozizé,[177] killed at least 24 people and displaced about 24,000.

[188] On 19 December 2020 six rebel groups who together control two-thirds of the country's territory,[189] including 3R led by General Sembé Bobo, FPRC,[190] and UPC,[191] announced they had formed an alliance called the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), and accused President Touadéra of trying to rig the election and stated their intent to advance to the capital.

[188] On 28 December, it was announced by the electoral commission that 800 (14%) of polling stations failed to operate during the presidential and legislative elections due to violent attacks from armed rebels.

Pro-Touadéra militias known as the "Sharks" and "7th Territorial Infantry Battalion" are alleged to have been involved in disappearances of members of Bozizé's party and former president's Catherine Samba-Panza, as well as challengers of Touadéra in the recent polls, Anicet-Georges Dologuélé and Martin Ziguélé, report being prevented from exiting the country.

[201] Subsequently, CAR forces, supported by the Russian contractors and Rwandan troops, captured a number of strategic towns throughout February 2021, including Bossembele, Bouar, Beloko and Bossangoa.

[202][203][204][205] During the fighting, the rebel Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) claimed its fighters killed several Wagner Group PMCs and captured one when they destroyed their truck near Bambari on 10 February.

[citation needed] In addition, at the end of the month, Russian and Syrian PMCs of the Wagner Group attacked a rebel checkpoint at the entrance of a village 28 km from Bria, killing three CPC fighters.